Sydney Opera House pro-Palestine march has ‘disaster written all over it’, senior NSW police officer tells court | Sydney

One of New South Wales’ most senior police officers has told a court a proposed pro-Palestine march to the Sydney Opera House was “a disaster all around” due to “significant” safety concerns.

Representatives from the Palestine Action Group and Jews Against Occupations remain before the Court of Appeal in their fight against New South Wales police during the proposed march from Hyde Park to the Sydney landmark this Sunday.

Last week, the group announced its plan to mark two years since the October 7 attacks and call for “an end to the genocide in Gaza” from its normal path of nearly weekly rallies over the past two years. But on Friday, NSW police announced they would withdraw an application for the group to march to the Opera House, citing security concerns.

The Court of Appeals, which inherited the case from the Supreme Court on Tuesday because of the urgency and legal complexities of the issue, is determining whether the march will be authorized to end at the Opera House.

Deputy Commissioner Peter McKenna said of particular concern was how the 40,000 people expected to attend would safely enter and exit the front of the Opera House without risking crowd crushes. He also questioned the estimate of 40,000 people and said there could be more.

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“We are not anti-protest. We have assisted this group with more than 100 protests in the last two years and we do about 1,500 protests a year,” he said.

“All the sacrifice in the world doesn’t help when we have a physical condition where we believe the numbers are too extreme to keep people safe.”

Felicity Graham, lawyer for the Palestine Action Group, told McKenna that police may have staggered the crowd as they left Hyde Park. McKenna said police could facilitate this with 10,000 people, but could not go significantly higher than that.

“You’re talking about significant resources that I don’t have,” he said.

Under the statute governing the Opera House, it has the power to carry out searches, which can include X-ray equipment and bag searches. The court heard this was standard operating procedure during events attracting large crowds.

McKenna told the court he would recommend the Opera House screen protesters.

“I still say the Opera House is such an iconic place and where it is, and I’m careful what I say here… but there are people in our community who are [who] I’d like the opportunity to do some stuff at that location due to media attention [and] “Given our current threat in Australia, I would say it would be good to know who is coming there and what they have on them,” he said.

“Just because it’s a protest, it doesn’t stop others from entering this circle.”

Graham asked if this would be impractical because it would cause the crowd to stop.

McKenna responded: “My whole argument is that 40,000 to 100,000 people going there is impractical.”

NSW chief justice Andrew Bell is one of three arbitrators overseeing the case. He expressed concern at what he called a “stalemate” among protesters who ended the march.

Graham told the court there were three exit points for protesters to leave the front. It also increased the likelihood of surprising protesters when they arrived at the opera house, so that only about 6,000 people were on the front lawn at a time.

McKenna told the court the promoter expected people would leave the front of the opera house after being “ridiculous” as soon as they arrived. He added that people will want to stay to get the footage they need to attract global media attention.

At the start of the hearing, Graham said the group would ask the court to find on the balance of probabilities that genocide had occurred in the Gaza Strip.

However, the court stated that making the finding would be reduced due to the urgency of the application.

Chris Sidoti was presented as part of the group’s evidence that Israel’s behavior was genocidal. Sidoti is one of Australia’s most experienced international law experts and a member of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, which last month published a report saying the Israeli government and military were committing genocide in Gaza. Israel rejected the report’s findings.

Graham argued that requesting the finding was unusual but relevant to the case because it goes to the cause of protest, which “imposed Australia’s compliance with its obligation to prevent genocide.”

James Emmett SC, acting for the police, said the court’s finding “neither could nor should have done so. But he did not object to the evidence taken to show that there was a belief or perception of people who wanted to take part in the protest.”

The court also heard appeals from the Jewish community against the rally.

Speaking on behalf of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, lawyer Vanessa Whittaker told the court the planned protest’s proximity to its second anniversary and location would create “fears of violent antisemitism and further distress within the Jewish community”.

“The convenience is that, in reality, it is impossible in the modern age, in the modern democracy, for the Jewish community … to be oblivious to the consequences, the attention and the heat produced by this kind of protest,” he said.

It remains before the court.