NSW reveals new laws to stop protests outside places of worship
Fresh legislation enabling police to move on protesters harassing or obstructing people attending places of worship in NSW will be introduced in the wake of successful PAG Supreme Court action.
Fresh legislation enabling police to move on protesters harassing or obstructing visitors to places of worship will be reintroduced by the NSW government, after their initial attempt was struck down by a Supreme Court challenge headed by Palestine Action Group agitator Josh Lees.
The change is one of a slew of legal moves being taken as the state government reels from a neo-Nazi rally outside NSW parliament at the weekend, with Premier Chris Minns and Police Minister Yasmin Catley on Tuesday insisting their offices had no prior knowledge of the gathering.
The government will now try to thread a legal needle after the Supreme Court last month ruled out a bid to introduce powers enabling police to move on protesters outside places of worship.
The fresh legislation, first revealed by The Australia, has been rejigged with a caveat that protesters who harass, block or intimidate worshippers entering or leaving churches, synagogues, mosques or temples can now be moved on. The law narrows police dispersal powers, directly linking them to offences under the Crimes Act that prohibit blocking, impeding, hindering or intimidating a person attempting to access or leave a place of worship.
Mr Minns also announced his government would attempt to remove a sunset clause added to previous hate speech laws, which would have extinguished the legislation within three years.
“Does anyone believe that anti-Semitism will stop in 2½ years’ time? This sunset clause should never have been included in the bill; we’re going to attempt to remove it,” he told parliament.
“We will be asking for the house’s bipartisan (and) multi-partisan support in order to send a clear and unambiguous message: Nazis are not welcome in NSW.”
NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley, who will introduce the new protest laws to parliament next week, said the fresh legislation would ensure “the NSW Police Force retains appropriate move-on powers”.
“This change strikes the right balance between protecting the community and the right to protest,” he told The Australian.
The legal tightrope comes after the Supreme Court in October struck down amendments to protest legislation being pushed by the NSW government as part of a suite of hate speech laws.
Mr Lees brought the challenge, with his lawyers successfully arguing that powers allowing police to disperse protesters near places of worship “impermissibly burdens the constitutionally implied freedom of political communication”.
The Palestine Action Group organiser has led almost weekly protests around Sydney since the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel, with the 43-year-old heading at least 85 rallies, which are estimated to have cost more than $10m and tied up at least 20,000 NSW police officers.
These protests included the August march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which was unsuccessfully challenged in the NSW Supreme Court by NSW police on the grounds it would cause significant disruption to the city.
The NSW government is also investigating legislation emulating a German law forbidding Nazi slogans being used in public – after members of the National Socialist Network chanted the Hitler Youth phrase “blood and honour’’ at NSW parliament on Saturday. Behaviour consistent with Nazi groups would also be outlawed, which could target attire worn in public.
The NSW opposition also announced on Tuesday that it would move its own slew of legislation, including that specific groups would be allowed three protests a year before having to pay for the police resources they suck up.
The opposition would also force courts deliberating whether a protest should go ahead to consider impacts including the cost to taxpayers, the frequency of protests by the same group, and whether there were less disruptive routes available.
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