‘Oppression’: NSW Premier Chris Minns called out over narrative of ‘intolerance’ after Harbour Bridge protest

NSW Premier Chris Minns has been accused of driving a narrative of “intolerance and oppression” in the wake of a massive protest in support of Palestine on Sydney’s Harbour Bridge Greens justice spokesperson Sue Higginson said the Premier has “lost authority over his own caucus” after several Labor ministers joined the march on Sunday. “The Premier has come out saying he has no regrets about his fierce opposition to the history-making March for Humanity and is now making clear his opposition to future marches across the Bridge,” she said. Ms Higginson announced she will seek to repeal NSW Police’s “move-on” powers, arguing they are being used to unjustly restrict the right to protest. “The Premier has spent months trying to shut down peaceful protests for Palestine and recently we saw the violent police assault on Hannah Thomas as she was peacefully gathered at a pro-Palestine protest in Belmore,” she said. “We know police impunity and their misunderstanding of the excessive powers they wield contributed in part to the police violence. “Protest in NSW is a critical feature of our democracy, and the State’s response to protest can make the difference between whether it is safe, peaceful and understood.” Police estimate between 90,000 to 100,000 people marched across the bridge, calling for an end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Protesters began marching on the Sydney landmark about 2pm on Sunday, with tens of thousands chanting “free, free Palestine”, waving flags and holding placards. Police issued an urgent call to protesters about 3pm on Sunday, instructing them to “turn around” to avoid a “crowd crush” on the bridge. “Participants have been asked to stop proceeding across the bridge to avoid a crowd crush at the northern end of the harbour bridge,” the statement read. “Once the procession has come to a halt, protesters will be asked to turn around and walk back toward Wynyard to avoid a risk of injury due to the huge number of people taking part. “Police believe the safest route back is to walk back across the bridge given the huge numbers to avoid overwhelming the public transport system and a potential crowd crush scenario.” Speaking to media on Monday, NSW Premier Chris Minns said despite a judge allowing the demonstration organisers to go ahead with the protest, it would not be “open season” for others to follow suit. “My job is to be on the side of public safety and ensuring that people can live and work and protest and enjoy a city as big as Sydney,” he said. “It’s not an easy thing to get right.” He said while he accepted the court’s decision to allow the protest on the bridge and accepted that “people came to the protest and acted peacefully”, he argued it should not encourage further protests on the landmark. “No-one should assume it’s open season on the bridge,” he said. “We’re not gonna have a situation where the anti-vaxxer group has it one Saturday, then the weekend after that, Critical Mass takes over, then the weekend after that, an environmental cause, then the weekend after that because of an industrial dispute. “You’d accept that’s a situation that a big city like Sydney couldn’t cope with.” He added that while the protest was “lawful” and protesters acted peacefully, he said the issue was a matter of public safety. “Police had to deal with a very difficult logistic situation, where you had tens of thousands of people in a confined space, and for many people who wanted to get on the bridge, they had to be turned away,” he said. “I’m not putting that blame on demonstrators. This was a lawful march. It had been agreed to by the courts. “I’m just making the point that it was a confined space and there was a massive number of people, and that was the challenge police had to deal with.” Minster for Police and Counter Terrorism Yasmin Catley said there was “very little time” for police to prepare for the protest, adding they were “concerned about public safety”. “Something of this magnitude would take absolutely months, many months … to organise,” she said. “The police made it very clear that they did not have enough time to put in place the contingencies required for such a large crowd into the city. “Never before has there been a protest of that magnitude in our city and given that it was incident free, I have to say thank you to the NSW Police.” When asked if police would consider banning future protests along the Harbour Bridge, she said “people are allowed to protest in this state”, but must act “lawfully, peacefully and take the direction of the police”.