Police powers upheld but Israel protest continues
Police will retain the power to bar people from central Sydney during Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit after a court win.
Protest organizers Palestine Action Group unsuccessfully sued on Monday against the NSW government, which declared Mr Herzog’s visit a major event.
The declaration gives police extra powers to increase the number of officers, search anyone at the declared event site and prevent them from entering ahead of a rally planned for tonight at Sydney City Hall.
Less than 45 minutes before the protest began, NSW Supreme Court Justice Robertson Wright announced that the objection to the declaration had been dismissed.
“The submissions on both sides were very strong,” Judge Wright said.
“My conclusions were not reached easily or easily.”
Palestine Action Group spokesman Josh Lees said outside the court that thousands of protesters would continue their opposition to Herzog despite the verdict.
“We lost this case but that doesn’t affect what we do tonight,” Mr Lees said.
Mr Lees said the Palestine Action Group was still seeking a compromise with NSW Police that would allow activists to march from City Hall to Parliament House.
Hundreds of protesters and nearly 200 police had descended on City Hall more than half an hour before the planned protest.
Lawyers for the protesters told the court that the government’s statement was too broad and did not meet legal requirements because it did not specify any participants or geographic areas.
The scope of the police’s powers was illustrated in a presumption drawn by barrister Peter Lange SC.
“A stereotypical lawyer can be searched without a warrant because he is in the eastern suburbs,” he said.
“If he refuses the search… he may be removed from his area of residence.”
But the government’s lawyer, Brendan Lim SC, argued that the scenario was not useful in deciding whether the protesters were the intended target of the declaration.
“(This) is a distorted assumption that is of no use… there is no attempt to focus on the consequences for the plaintiff,” Mr Lim said.
He argued that the declaration was made not to suppress the protest on Monday evening, but to move it to Hyde Park, where the Palestine Action Group held hundreds of rallies.
Judge Wright stated that the evidence showed that separating the protesters from the mourners and the Israeli president was the motivation.
The NSW government introduced laws restricting the protections usually granted to authorized protests following the terror attack at Bondi Beach in December.
These temporary powers, which can be extended for up to three months after a terrorist incident, were strengthened by the major incident declaration announced on Saturday.
NSW Premier Chris Minns incorrectly claimed major event powers had previously been used when Sydney hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2007.
The laws were not implemented until 2009, with separate specific legislation being developed for APEC activity.
Mr Herzog’s role is largely ceremonial, but he sparked outrage when he was photographed signing the Israeli artillery shell.
The United Nations investigation found that Hamas’s comments after the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel (where it described Palestinians as “an entire nation that is responsible”) could be interpreted as incitement to genocide.
Rallies against Mr Herzog’s visit are planned across Australia on Monday evening.
Those who fail to comply with NSW police instructions face penalties including fines of up to $5,500.
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