Sydney Criminal Lawyers: Civil Liberties Groups Condemn NSW Government’s Further Encroachment on Right to Protest

Recently, the NSW Police attempted to halt the ongoing peaceful protests for Palestine, which have taken place every Sunday in the CBD for over a year, by filing an application with the NSW Supreme Court. After the rejection of this application, Premier Chris Minns appeared on 2GB Radio with Ben Fordham, where he expressed his view that the NSW Police should have the authority to deny protest applications, citing the strain on police resources.

Last week, NSW Greens MLC Sue Higginson led a coalition of civil society voices and organisations in criticising Minns for his attempts to suppress protests and called for the repeal of the anti-protest laws, first introduced in 2022.

 

“The idea that democratic rights in this country can be easily taken away on the basis of what a premier says something costs” is quite frightening, said NSWCCL president Lydia Shelley.

Lydia stressed that so serious is the repressive state of protest laws in this country that her organisation has asked the UN to visit Australia to investigate the matter.

 

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