Minns bid to ‘lower temperature’ with new laws to pause protests and limit gun ownership
Premier Chris Minns has flagged a crackdown on protests during terror investigations, as well as new strict gun ownership caps in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.
Protests will be banned during terrorism investigations to prevent “combustible” situations and strict gun ownership caps will be imposed under legislation Premier Chris Minns will push through parliament next week.
Mr Minns declared he wants to pass reforms to give NSW the strictest gun laws in the country, including banning someone appealing decisions to strip them of their firearms.
The Minns government will also seek to block any mass protests during times of inflamed tensions, by banning protest paperwork being approved while a “terrorism designation” is in place.
Details of the changes were scant yesterday, with the legislation yet to be drafted.
Mr Minns said the protest crackdown still needs to be finalised to ensure it is “consistent” with “implied freedom of political communication” under the constitution.
“My responsibility right now is both community safety and community harmony, and I have to explore all possible ways of ensuring that we lower the temperature in NSW,” he said. The new protest laws would block organisers lodging “form 1” paperwork during a “terrorism designation”.
“This will be a blanket rule,” the premier said.
Jewish Board of Deputies President David Ossip supported the changes, while Catholic archbishop Anthony Fisher backed the crackdown in a speech to a memorial at St Mary’s cathedral last night, saying the protests must stop.
Jewish leaders have repeatedly warned that regular pro-Palestinian protests have inflamed anti-Semitism.
Mr Minns said he was concerned holding a protest in the current climate “could light a flame that would be impossible to extinguish”.
On gun reform, he said he was considering removing “recreational hunting” as a reason to own guns for suburban Sydneysiders, but has not decided how to achieve that goal.
Mr Minns said he wants to reclassify straight pull up and pump action shotguns.
He also wants to reduce magazine capacity for shotguns and prohibit belt fed magazines in those shotguns.
The bill will remove the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal as an appeal mechanism once a firearm licence is revoked.
“At the moment, NSW Police routinely yank licenses from gun holders and license holders that they suspect or fear are a threat to the community,” he said.
“Those appeals are heard in NCAT, and police’s objections are often overturned,” he said.
The proposal to crack down on gun ownership comes as the premier revealed he is considering allowing Jewish security group CSG to carry weapons at Jewish events, like Hanukkah festivals.
Mr Minns told Sky News that CSG already has permission to carry arms at Jewish places of worship and schools.
“But we’re in discussions with them about events,” he said.
Questions have been raised about whether more police should have been patrolling the festival targeted by the terrorists.
Mr Minns said “at least” three officers were patrolling Archer Park when the gunmen opened fire on Sunday night after previously saying there were two.
Two officers, Constable Scott Dyson and Probationary Constable Jack Hibbert, were shot by the terrorists and remain in hospital.
Const Hibbert only graduated from the Goulburn Police academy four months ago and will lose sight in one eye as a result of his injuries.
Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon described Const Hibbert as a “very positive young man,” and said he had spoken to the junior officer yesterday.
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Originally published as Minns bid to ‘lower temperature’ with new laws to pause protests and limit gun ownership
