NSW premier says police commissioner to decide when to use state’s new protest ban powers | New South Wales politics

New South Wales premier Chris Minns said it was up to state police commissioner Mal Lanyon to decide when he would invoke controversial new powers to ban protests – but made clear he wanted them triggered as soon as possible.

The new laws were approved on Wednesday after being passed in a late-night session of the NSW upper house and approved by the lower house on Wednesday morning.

The laws, introduced in response to the terror attack on Bondi beach, give police the power to ban protests for up to three months following the terrorist incident. The laws also include enhanced controls on gun ownership, including limits on the number of guns a person can own, a ban on rapid-firing weapons and blocking appeals if a license is refused by police.

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The limit of four guns for recreational shooters and 10 for professional shooters and farmers will apply to new purchases as of Wednesday afternoon.

The Prime Minister said gun owners who already own more than the new limits will have a short period of time to comply with them. The NSW government is considering a buyback scheme similar to that implemented after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996. Details have not yet been announced, but it will be jointly funded by the federal and state governments.

Guardian Australia asked the NSW police commissioner when he plans to introduce the state’s protest ban.

On Tuesday, three groups that hold regular demonstrations in Sydney said they planned to take legal action against the laws as soon as they are passed on free speech grounds, but neither group had immediate plans to protest.

Minns says activating the ban is necessary, saying he wants to “make sure we’re in a position to keep the people of New South Wales safe”.

“I certainly do not shy away from the fact that in these circumstances of rising tensions, words can lead to actions,” Minns said. “And I think the vast majority of Australians living in NSW support us on these changes.”

He said he wanted to heal and that was the message behind his visit to a mosque in Sydney’s Rockdale on Tuesday.

“[It was] “It is an opportunity to make it really clear that an attack on a Muslim, a Jew, a Christian or someone who does not belong to any religion is an attack on all of us and we cannot tolerate it,” he said.

“These laws are in place to protect and protect everyone, and that should be the message here. We must come together. No matter how difficult it is, no matter how many disagreements we have, our only real hope as Australians to get through this in the long term is to unite.”

He also predicted that when parliament meets on February 3, more legislation will be introduced to combat hate speech and symbols at protests, including slogans he considers objectionable, such as “globalizing the intifada”.

The change to the bill proposed by the Greens would require the firearm owner to be a person who, to the knowledge of the police commissioner, has never been investigated by a federal or state law enforcement or intelligence agency for terrorism-related offenses or association with members of a designated terrorist organisation.

The amendment also states that a gun license should not be given to a person living with a person who is under investigation for terrorism-related crimes.

Naveed Akram, 24, one of the alleged Bondi gunmen, came to Asio’s attention in 2019 and was living at the same address in Bonnyrigg as his father, Sajid Akram, the other alleged gunman killed at the scene.

Although the Greens put forward the proposed amendment, they refrained from supporting the final bill due to its anti-protest powers.

“A healthy democracy does not suppress peaceful protests,” Greens MP Jenny Leong said.

The bill was passed with the support of Labor and the Liberals, but the Nationals and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party opposed it.

Liberal leader Kellie Sloane, whose seat includes Bondi Beach, said in a statement: “NSW Liberals supported the passage of this bill because the safety of the community must always come first and parliament has a responsibility to act in the wake of such a serious and confronting terrorist attack.

He repeated his criticism of the process being rushed.

The Prime Minister also told NSW to expect increased security on Sydney’s streets over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

“You can expect the police to have a greater presence and also to have weapons that they deem appropriate to keep the people of the state safe,” Minns said.

“It may not be something you see often from police officers on the street, but they will respond to the challenges they face and the assessment they make. And we won’t make any apologies for that.”