NSW police accused of ‘sickening’ double standard over neo-Nazi rally as Jewish groups demand answers | New South Wales

A former Greens candidate who required surgery after he was allegedly shot by police during a pro-Palestinian protest has claimed police allowing a neo-Nazi rally on the steps of parliament made him “sick” and showed a “clear double standard”.

New South Wales police authorized a neo-Nazi rally on Saturday at which about 60 men dressed in black called for the removal of the Jewish lobby. The NSW police decision was condemned as “incomprehensible” by a Jewish group on Sunday.

NSW police commissioner Mal Lanyon said on Saturday afternoon he was unaware the demonstration had been authorized under the Form 1 process. A “communication error” was responsible for not notifying the state government in advance.

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Prime Minister Chris Minns said the event should not have been sanctioned and announced a review into why police had not opposed it as they had previously done at high-profile pro-Palestinian protests in Sydney.

Hannah Thomas had surgery on her right eye after she was hit during a protest outside a workplace in Sydney in June. He was charged with resisting police, failing to comply with instructions to proceed, and failing to comply with instructions to disperse. All charges against him were dropped in September.

A police officer has now been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and recklessly causing grievous bodily harm. Thomas launched a civil lawsuit against NSW police.

Thomas said on Sunday: “The senior constable told the officers that morning to give us zero tolerance and that’s what they did.”

“That’s our approach compared to the Nazis who arranged to get their way in front of the NSW parliament.”

Thomas said he was “sickened” to see the protest not stopped and claimed it showed a “clear double standard”.

‘Inconsistent reactions of the police’

Sarah Schwartz, chief executive of the Jewish Council of Australia, said it was “surprising” that the rally was allowed. Like Thomas, he claimed there was an inconsistency in the police force’s approach to protests and rallies.

“We have seen completely inconsistent police responses to right-wing extremism and other forms of political expression,” Schwartz said.

He told ABC TV there was a difference between peaceful protests and “the hate demonstrations we saw yesterday”.

“These neo-Nazi actors in Australia are determined to stage aggressive demonstrations aimed at grabbing headlines and media attention… these are not rallies. These are acts of hate speech and should be treated as such.”

“There has been an inconceivable level of police approval for this neo-Nazi rally to take place outside the very center of NSW democracy,” said Alon Cassuto, chief executive of the Zionist Federation of Australia.

“We expect a thorough investigation to understand how this neo-Nazi rally was allowed to happen in the first place,” Cassuto said.

Despite controversy, the rally was allowed to continue new lawsThe law, which came into force in August, makes it a crime to deliberately incite hatred against people because of their race, nationality or ethno-religious origin.

Speaking after the neo-Nazi rally, Minns said he would consider giving police more powers to stop racist and hateful demonstrations.

“It looks like we will need to give the police more legal powers to stop this kind of naked racism and hatred on Sydney’s streets,” the Prime Minister said on Saturday.

Minns also admitted: “If we had time again, that rally would not have happened.”

‘Reckless law and order’

The prospect of giving more powers to the police was questioned by a spokesman for environmental activist group Rising Tide, which has halted operations at one of the world’s largest coal ports in 2024 due to climate protests.

“The laws and police powers needed to prevent hateful Nazi demonstrations already exist and there must be a thorough investigation into why they were not used to prevent such horrific displays of racism and hatred from taking place,” a Rising Tide spokesman said in a statement on Sunday.

Arif Hussein, a senior attorney at the Human Rights Law Center, accused Minns of “trying to cover up his government’s failure to allow a white supremacist group to engage in open hate speech.”

“Before mounting a new law-and-order response, Minns needs to focus on crafting a real plan to combat the far-right and neo-Nazis organizing in his state,” Hussein said.

NSW Greens MLC Sue Higginson said she had “deep concerns” about how police were managing the form 1 system that gave them the power to object to protests.

“How can they justify not opposing a rally called for neo-Nazis to engage in antisemitism, but relentlessly challenging protests calling for a free Palestine?” Higginson said Sunday.

Alex Ryvchin, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jews, said the “grotesque spectacle” should never have been allowed to take place on Saturday. But he said it was partly responsible for the increase in protest activity.

“[When] The police have been inundated with protest applications from professional protesters every week for two years, such things will happen, but they should not happen,” Ryvchin told ABC TV.

Josh Lees, who organized the pro-Palestinian march on the Sydney Harbor Bridge earlier this year, compared police treatment of neo-Nazis outside parliament to protesters who gathered outside a major arms fair last week.

The police fired pepper gas at the protesters, who they claimed attacked the police officers who were trying to create an exclusion zone. 12 people were arrested.

“Chris Minns cannot use this vile Nazi rally to introduce more anti-protest legislation,” Lees said in a statement on Sunday.

“They’ve got more than enough. The question is why Minns and the police aren’t using their recently passed hate speech laws against these Nazis.”

NSW police and the premier’s office have been contacted for comment.