A coalition of legal, First Nations and Human Rights organisations have come together to call on the NSW government to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14.

The group, which includes the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) NSW/ACT, AbSec, Amnesty International Australia, ANTAR, Australian Services Union NSW & ACT Services Branch, Community Legal Centres NSW, Just Reinvest NSW, Justice Reform Initiative, New South Wales Council of Social Service (NCOSS), NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL), NSW Teachers Federation, Public Interest Advocacy Centre and Youth Action, brings a deep understanding of the negative impacts criminalising children has as well as knowledge and expertise on how to do better as a community.

In a statement, the group said better outcomes and a safer community wouldn't be achieved by doing things that don't work.

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) is aware of an extraordinary general meeting occurring tonight, where members of both the Labor and Liberal party will put forward a motion to remove the Greens Waverley Deputy Mayor Ludovico Fabiano and Greens Councillor, Dominic Wy Kanak from various committees as a result of their public positions on what is occurring in Israel and Palestine.

These positions include the acknowledgement that there is a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Palestine (and in particular Gaza) and that States must comply with their obligations pursuant to International Law.

GRACE JOHNSON: The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) has condemned the police’s “scare tactics” in the days leading up to the pro-Palestine rally. 

Palestine Action Group had organised a peaceful rally which saw six thousand protestors assemble in Hyde Park this past Sunday. Roughly 1,000 officers were deployed around the city, including members of the riot, mounted and canine units. 

President of NSWCCL Josh Pallas said, “It was outrageous that the primary threat to crowd safety was from the NSW police, who threatened to use extraordinary powers under s 87D of LEPRA, which are available when there is a threat of wide-spread public disorder.  So-called police intelligence turned out to be completely unfounded. NSW Police and the Police Minister must explain how they got it so wrong.” 

“The police claims that there was such a threat can only be seen as a scare and intimidation tactic in the lead up to the protest. The emergency powers should not be available to prevent a political protest,” he continued. 

“The intense and large police mobilisation on the ground was another scare tactic aimed at intimidating overpoliced people who were demonised over the past week as posing a risk of violence by police and politicians.” 

Catie McLeod & Tamsin Rose: Human rights and legal experts have condemned the New South Wales government’s “escalating”, “unnuanced” and “disproportionate” rhetoric and response to pro-Palestinian protesters following a rally at the Opera House.

NSW authorities have vowed to stop marches from proceeding while protesters have promised to “march next week and every week” after a “static demonstration” in Hyde Park this Sunday.

Event co-organiser Amal Naser said they would be “out, loud and proud and we’re not going to bow down to the pressures that we’ve been experiencing from police and the premier”.

Sunday’s gathering was initially billed as a march through the city before police rejected the group’s application on the grounds it was submitted with less than a week’s notice.

Maeve McGregor: Saying the quiet part aloud is increasingly what escalation looks like in this country.

Take for instance Tom Koutsantonis, the South Australian energy minister whose recent words to the fossil-fuel industry — “[We’re] at your disposal” — coupled with the draconian anti-protest laws which ensued will forever condemn him and the government to which he belongs in the minds of so many Australians. 

Or NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley, who on Tuesday afternoon appeared to expressly deny the rights of anyone in the state to assemble and protest. “I don’t want to see protests on our streets at all, from anybody,” she told 2GB, seemingly forgetting her state’s ostensive democratic trappings. Or federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who on Wednesday openly expressed his incredulity at the prime minister for not having declared a blanket nationwide ban on all pro-Palestinian protests, as if that’s even a legal possibility. 

Olivia Ireland and Michael Koziol: Premier Chris Minns’ declaration that pro-Palestinian activists will not be allowed to “commandeer our streets” has triggered a fresh brawl about the right to protest in NSW, as the government tries to counter days of criticism over its handling of Monday’s rally in Sydney.

The Law Society Journal has reviewed our documentary series “60 Years Strong.” They say: It’s 1963, and Australia and the world are in the early years of what would become known as one of the most tumultuous and divisive decades. 

The Civil Rights movement in the US reached a pivotal moment as Martin Luther King Jr delivered his iconic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, inspiring many worldwide to fight for their rights.  

Closer to home, conflict in Southeast Asia intensifies and will send more than 60,000 Australians in the coming years to fight alongside their allies in the jungles of Vietnam, sparking a period of mass anti-war protests and demonstrations worldwide. 

Statement from Michael Cope, President of the Queensland Council of Civil Liberties, Josh Pallas, President of New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties, and Michael Stanton as President of Liberty Victoria.

Our organisations support the Uluṟu Statement from the Heart – a generous call from First Nations peoples for voice, treaty and truth. We also continue to urge the Commonwealth to fully implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which requires respect for self-determination. Whilst we acknowledge ongoing debate about whether the Voice is the optimal approach to enshrining First Nations representation in the Constitution, the Voice is the only opportunity currently open. If not taken, there is no guarantee any similar or alternate opportunities will present in the near future.

Comments from Josh Pallas, President NSW Council for Civil Liberties.

"Calls in the media from politicians and public figures for police to have prohibited or closed down the Free Palestine Protest in Sydney yesterday are misplaced and fundamentally inconsistent with the right to protest which must be protected, not trashed."

"The exercise of this right should not be dependent on police approval.  Non-violent protest is fundamental to democracy and should be allowed by right."

"Of course, politicians and public figures may publicly disagree with the content of a protest, however, is also an important democratic freedom.  But it is wrong for them to call for a prohibition of the protest."

"Everyone should have the right to gather and convey political messages in non-violent protest. This right is essential to our democratic system of government. The right to protest has already been eroded enough in this State and politicians should not be given licence to erode it further on the basis of there being "good" and "bad" protest causes.  Protest itself ought to be celebrated as enriching our democracy."

"Expression of hate speech, in whatever form it takes, is neither appropriate nor consistent with democratic values.  Hate speech is not a legitimate exercise of free speech rights. Protestors should not engage in hate speech.”

ends