NSW Labor’s unprecedented attack on the right to protest, with support from the Liberals, is designed to exploit the fear among many communities, following the Bondi Beach terror attack.

Labor recalled parliament to ram through its Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 last Christmas Eve. They give the Police Commissioner the power to ban protests for up to three months, within 14 days of a terror incident. This includes static gatherings if police regarded them as a “breach of the peace.”

On January 7, the commissioner announced a further 14-day ban. The NSW Council for Civil Liberties denounced this as a misuse of power.

Proponents of such laws have sought to justify them on the lie that the anti-genocide movement is the context for the terror attack.

Minns implied a link between the actions of terrorists Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram and those of pro-Palestine protesters. Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal went further, explicitly linking the peaceful 300,000-strong........

© Green Left Weekly