Australian politics live: Minns defends police actions at Sydney protest in ‘impossible situation’; Plibersek says videos from scene ‘very concerning’ | Australia news
Minns says police ‘put in an impossible situation’
Penry Buckley
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, is making the first of multiple appearances across the media this morning following the violent clashes between police and protesters yesterday evening.
He has told Channel Nine’s Today program that police were “put in an impossible situation last night”:
It’s worth remembering they did everything possible to avoid that confrontation, starting last week when they begged protest organisers to have it in Hyde Park, where it was safe and a march could take place.
I know that some of the scenes on media are short clips, but people have to understand the circumstances where protesters breached police lines and ran amuck in Sydney would have been devastating.
What we can say today what we couldn’t say yesterday is that we had 7,000 Jewish mourners in the same city at the same time, and police had to keep those two groups apart.
Asked about comments from NSW Labor backbencher Sarah Kaine that the police response were disproportionate, Minns says:
No. She’s wrong. I’m not going to throw police under the bus this morning. This is a situation that’s incredibly combustible. And the circumstances that weren’t shown on the news this morning or on TV last night because is what would have happened if protesters breached police lines …
It would have dangerous … as difficult as the scenes were to watch, it would have been infinitely worse if NSW police didn’t do their job last night.
Key events
ABC News Breakfast host, Bridget Brennan asks Plibersek why Sophie Quinn, who was allegedly shot to death by her former partner Lake Cargelligo last month, was not given a national mourning day, or why politicians aren’t speaking widely about her life and legacy.
Quinn was seven months pregnant when she was killed. Her aunt and friend were also killed.
Plibersek says a lot of people would say that the voices of Aboriginal women and communities have “not been heard sufficiently in this debate.”
When we talk about the issues of family, domestic and sexual violence, the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have been talked about less than they should’ve been … the statistics are shocking. An Aboriginal woman is 7 times more likely to die in a domestic homicide. 27 times more likely to end up in hospital, 41 more times to end up in hospital if she’s in a rural or remote community. That’s not acceptable.
PM ‘devastated’ by scenes at protests in Sydney and Melbourne
Anthony Albanese says all views on Herzog visit should be expressed “peacefully”, and that the Israeli president’s visit is appropriate.
Speaking to Triple M Hobart, the prime minister is asked about the clashes between protesters and police during last night’s marches. Albanese says he was “devastating” and said that causes are “undermined” by these sorts of scenes:
I’m devastated by it. These are scenes that I think shouldn’t be taking place. So people should be able to express their views peacefully, but the police were very clear about the routes that were required if people wanted to march to go a particular route, and for to ensure that this was done peacefully. But the causes are not advanced by these sort of seems, indeed, they’re undermined.
Albanese says again the community don’t want to see “conflict” brought to Australia and that people should discuss issues peacefully and with respect.
Penry Buckley
Minns claims police opposed Town Hall protest for security of Jewish community event
Returning to the NSW premier, Chris Minns has said the reason police and the government opposed protesters marching from Town Hall to parliament last night was because of the area’s proximity to a Jewish community event at the ICC last night and the hotel where the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, was staying.
Minns is speaking to ABC Radio Sydney about the violent scenes at yesterday’s protest. He says:
NSW police were desperate for the protest not to take place there because [Town Hall] is the closest transport link to the ICC, right? …
The second point here, is that NSW parliament house was within blocks of where the president is staying for his official visit. And if NSW police were to take at face value the protest organiser’s word that they would go to parliament house then not breach police lines, and the rest of Sydney would have been safe, I think that would have been tactically irresponsible in the circumstances …
Now I realise this looks very easy in hindsight, and the circumstances and the decisions police make are really straightforward, but in the circumstances of a dynamic police situation, they had to make tactical calls to keep people safe.
Palestine Action Group calls for another protest tonight against ‘disgusting police state’
Nick Visser
The Palestine Action Group plans to hold another protest on Tuesday night after a violent, chaotic scene outside Sydney Town Hall on Monday evening saw dozens arrested after police deployed pepper spray into the crowd.
The group called for another event on Instagram, urging people to “be there tomorrow to stand up against Minns’ disgusting police state”:
To demand all charges against protesters be dropped, and to demand accountability and charges be laid against violent police.
The protest will take place outside NSW police’s Surry Hills police station, which lies outside the protest restriction zone.
Josh Lees, an organiser for Palestine Action Group, said last night’s events were the “worst” he’d seen after attending many pro-Palestine protests in recent years. He told ABC Radio Sydney:
We should have had the right to march. If police had just facilitated what we called for all along, a peaceful march from Town Hall to either the New South Wales Parliament or Hyde Park, as we were trying to negotiate with police on the night last night, then all of this could have been avoided.
Lees added he believed police “were absolutely off the chain”, saying they “just kept charging” and “pepper spraying everyone”.
Government plan to end violence against First Nations women and children detailed
The ten year plan from 2026-36 will come with $218m of funding over four years in the budget, which the government says will fund a national network of up to 40 Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to deliver community-led specialist support services.
Tanya Plibersek says the services will include:
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Crisis responses including mobile teams in remote areas to work with families after a violent incident,
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Planning support to help victims leave violence safely and receive continued support,
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Community support programs including playgroups for mums and children to connect with Elders, and
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Behaviour change and education programs for men and boys.
On ABC AM, Plibersek said:
[The plan] says that solutions that are locally designed, locally driven, locally staffed, locally delivered are going to make a greatest difference in the remote communities in particular.
First Nations experiences to be included in royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion
Tanya Plibersek has moved across to the other side of the ABC office in the press gallery, and is speaking to the AM program on the plan to end violence against First Nations women and children.
She says First Nations Australians will be able to make submissions to the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion, and the minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy is encouraging the community to do that.
Plibersek says racism against First Nations people has been growing, and the terms of reference of the royal commission will allow those experiences to be considered.
The recent terrorist attack in Perth has led to enormous fear and anxiety, I know, amongst many Aboriginal people and in Aboriginal communities. But this comes on top of years now of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people telling us that racism against them is increasing …
The royal commission terms of reference already allow the commissioner to look at best practices and approaches to de-radicalisation and strengthening social cohesion.
Minns says police ‘put in an impossible situation’
Penry Buckley
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, is making the first of multiple appearances across the media this morning following the violent clashes between police and protesters yesterday evening.
He has told Channel Nine’s Today program that police were “put in an impossible situation last night”:
It’s worth remembering they did everything possible to avoid that confrontation, starting last week when they begged protest organisers to have it in Hyde Park, where it was safe and a march could take place.
I know that some of the scenes on media are short clips, but people have to understand the circumstances where protesters breached police lines and ran amuck in Sydney would have been devastating.
What we can say today what we couldn’t say yesterday is that we had 7,000 Jewish mourners in the same city at the same time, and police had to keep those two groups apart.
Asked about comments from NSW Labor backbencher Sarah Kaine that the police response were disproportionate, Minns says:
No. She’s wrong. I’m not going to throw police under the bus this morning. This is a situation that’s incredibly combustible. And the circumstances that weren’t shown on the news this morning or on TV last night because is what would have happened if protesters breached police lines …
It would have dangerous … as difficult as the scenes were to watch, it would have been infinitely worse if NSW police didn’t do their job last night.
Protest videos ‘very concerning’ says Plibersek
Plibersek is asked about the protests against Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s visit on Monday night, and says the government has always understood that the visit might be “controversial in some quarters”, including within the Jewish community in Australia.
The social services minister asks the community to take a deep breath and reflect on the reason for the visit. They’re similar to the words the foreign minister, Penny Wong, used last week, who said everyone should consider the context of the visit, which is to comfort the victims and families of the Bondi terror attack.
But Plibersek adds that people “absolutely” have a right to protest in Australia.
I think the – the protest organisers, when both the police and the courts said to them, yes, you can protest, but you can either do it in a stationary way here in Town Hall, if you want to march, you can march through a different part of the city, should have heeded that advice.
But of course, some of the videos that we’ve seen have been very concerning. And I expect they’ll be investigated.
Labor releases plan to address violence against First Nations women and children
The government has announced a dedicated ten-year national plan to address violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children.
The social services minister, Tanya Plibersek, who is in charge of the plan alongside the minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, is doing the media rounds this morning.
The standalone plan comes four years after the release of the broader national plan to end violence for women and children which was released in 2022.
Plibersek tells ABC News Breakfast the work for this plan has been ongoing and this is an “important next step”.
It also comes with over $200m of additional funding that will make a real difference on the ground as it begins to flow out from 1 July. That means programs like literally being able to go to an Aboriginal woman who is in a situation of domestic violence and say, how can we help you safely leave?
In a city area that’s hard enough, but if you’re in a tiny remote community and you need to fly in to help someone stay safe, you can imagine how much more complex that work is.
Plibersek says the plan is not just for the commonwealth government, but has also been signed on by the states and territories, and covers policing, justice, child protection and frontline services.
Krishani Dhanji
Good morning
Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.
There will be significant reaction to protest scenes out of Sydney and Melbourne last night.
Meanwhile, the agony continues for Sussan Ley as speculation continues over when Angus Taylor may mount a challenge against her, despite her reuniting the Nationals over the weekend.
There’s plenty to come, I’ve got plenty of caffeine, let’s get into it!
Police action was ‘corporal punishment of peaceful community’, Greens say
The Greens said the police action amounted to “summary physical punishment against legitimate and peaceful protest”.
Sue Higginson, Greens MP and the party’s spokesperson for justice, said it was “corporal punishment against a peaceful community” caused by the “inflammatory actions” of Chris Minns.
She said she would be referring the “wildly inappropriate” police actions to the law enforcement conduct commission.
A lawful and peaceful public assembly was set upon with state violence because arbitrary and excessive special powers were granted to the police, via a rushed regulation made on a Saturday, with no good cause and in defiance our implied constitutional rights to engage in political expression.
I saw with my own eyes something I had hoped to never see, but the video footage that is spreading across social media is all the evidence that any of us need to see the descent of NSW into a police state. We saw people of the Muslim faith who were praying set upon, dragged, assaulted and thrown to the ground. We saw dozens of armed police charging at peaceful members of our community.
Charging horses, chemical weapons, unprovoked assault and severe police violence. These should never be the tools of law enforcement and their presence on Sydney streets must be a wake-up call to all of us.
After chaotic scenes at a Sydney rally opposing Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s visit last night, assistant police commissioner Peter McKenna faced the media and accused the speakers at the rally of “inciting the crowd to march”.
“It was really something that was quite inflammatory,” he told reporters last night.
“In fact, it got to the point that I believe the crowd really took part in some type of contagion of group think.”
He also said that some officers had been assaulted amid brawls with the protesters.
“I had 10 police officers assaulted, and I’m really upset about it,” he said.
Asked if the protest would have been less violent had the police allowed protesters to march, he said: “It wasn’t a matter of us letting protesters march. There was legislation in place to say they couldn’t march.”
He also said that videos widely shared online and also posted by the Guardian had been taken “out of context”.
Those officers are in a very vulnerable, precarious position. Then when they have laws to enforce and violence is coming towards them, if that happens over a prolonged, sustained period of time, and then you take 30 seconds here or 30 seconds there of what looks like on its own merits … a violent confrontation.
Well, you’re not judging the whole night … the whole situation of what those officers have just been through.
Police deliver statement on protest arrests
In a press release issued late last night, NSW police explained their actions at the protest. In part, the statement said:
Thousands of participants gathered at Town Hall and at the conclusion of the speeches, the crowd assembled on George Street indicating an intention to march.
The crowd were issued a number of directions by police to disperse in accordance with the Public Assembly Restriction Declaration (PARD) and Major Events Act.
When participants failed to comply, officers moved to disperse the crowd, including anyone who had stopped and was blocking pedestrian access.
A number of scuffles broke out with 27 people arrested, including 10 for assault police, and are being dealt with by officers.
Paramedics treated a number of participants after OC spray was deployed. There have not been any reports of serious injuries.
Police condemned for ‘disproportionate response’ to Sydney protest
There has been a great deal of reaction to the police handling of the Sydney protests, not all of which we could squeeze into our news story.
The Australian Democracy Network says it has raised serious concerns about the police response days after the organisation and other civil society organisations wrote to the NSW premier, Chris Minns, expressing concerns about further restrictions on the right to protest.
ADN protest rights campaigner Anastasia Radievska said the events highlighted a broader and growing threat to protest rights in New South Wales.
What we have seen tonight appears to be a disproportionate response to people seeking to express their democratic right to protest. Heavy-handed policing of peaceful assembly undermines democratic participation and escalates, rather than resolves, community tensions.
Peaceful protest is a core democratic right. It cannot be treated as a public order problem to be managed through force or intimidation. Governments and police have a duty to facilitate protests and protect those exercising their rights.
Restricting or repressing protest does not improve community safety. It suppresses political expression and erodes trust in public institutions.
NSW police’s handling of Sydney protests under scrutiny
NSW police’s handling of protests in Sydney last night against the visit by Israel’s president will be under the spotlight this morning.
We have a full report, including claims by NSW Labor backbencher Anthony D’Adam that he saw police punching and throwing someone to the ground.
We also have videos showing scores of police charging protesters, and one of police dispersing Muslims as they prayed near the scene of the protests around Town Hall and the city’s convention centre, where Herzog was speaking.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the big breaking stories before Krishani Dhanji takes the helm.
Anthony Albanese’s decision to invite the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, to Australia to promote “unity” after the Bondi terror attacks will come under scrutiny today after police used pepper spray and mass charges on protesters opposing Herzog’s visit in Sydney last night.
The Greens described the police action as “wildly inappropriate” but the police claimed last night that speakers at the protest had “incited” the crowd to march. We have news, reaction and videos of the shocking scenes coming up.
No sooner had Sussan Ley made another peace with David Littleproud than reports have emerged that she faces an imminent leadership challenge from Angus Taylor. We have a full report and we’ll be bringing you developments in the Liberal saga when they happen.
