Coronavirus: Vow to march in Sydney after BLM appeal fails

Hundreds of Black Lives Matter activists are threatening to defy a court ruling and protest in ­Sydney city on Tuesday.

NSW assistant police commissioner Mick Willing says officers would be out in force to uphold the state’s strict COVID-19 public health orders. Picture: Richard Dobson

Hundreds of Black Lives Matter activists are threatening to defy a court ruling and protest in ­Sydney city on Tuesday despite stern warnings from the state’s police and political leaders that they will be punished with the full force of the law.

The threat comes after the NSW Court of Appeal upheld a Supreme Court decision to block the mass rally from going ahead because of concerns that it could lead to a surge in novel corona­virus outbreaks.

NSW assistant police commissioner Mick Willing said officers would be out in force to uphold the state’s strict COVID-19 public health orders.

Anyone caught breaching the provisions would be hit with $1000 on-the-spot fines, he said.

“There’ll be sufficient numbers of officers on the streets to deal with any eventuality.

“People who breach the health ­orders will be issued with infringement notices,” the Central Metropolitan Region commander said.

“If there are any offences that are ongoing, people can and will be arrested and put before courts, where the fines are exponential and they will face up to six months’ jail

“We all support people’s right to free speech — this is not about that.

“We facilitate 800 protests a year in the city CBD and we’re not against those at all.

“This is about public health and safety.

“We’ve all had to make ­sacrifices during this difficult ­period, and it’s been hard for the entire community — many ­people have had to bury loved ones at funerals and hold weddings without all their family and friends — and we’ve suffered through this together.

“When it’s safe to do so, I’m sure that these protests will go ahead but until then I urge people to respect the health orders that are in place.”

The tough stance taken by NSW police has been supported by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Scott Morrison.

“Police don’t want to have to make arrests but they will if they have to keep the community safe,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“Get your point across in a different way, do not breach the health orders, do not breach the rulings of the court.”

The Prime Minister reiterated protesters would be “breaking the law” if they turned up to march.

Their comments followed a dramatic last-minute hearing on Monday, in which Chief Justice Tom Bathurst, Court of Appeal president Andrew Bell and judge Robert McFarlan reaffirmed the Supreme Court’s ruling that the mass rally — expected to attract at least 1000 people — was unauthorised.

Police had sought a prohibition order for the rally, organised by the family of Aboriginal man David Dungay Jr, who died in custody in 2015, after similar protests in Melbourne were linked to mass outbreaks of coronavirus clusters.

In the initial judgment on Sunday, Supreme Court judge Mark Ierace said he had granted the prohibition order partly because NSW was on the “knife-edge” of an escalation in community transmission of COVID-19.

After losing the appeal, rally organiser Paddy Gibson said the BLM protesters had scrapped plans to march from Town Hall to Parliament House after the court’s decision.

Instead, Mr Gibson said, an ­estimated 500 people would attend a protest at The Domain.

A petition would also be presented to the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions to consider criminal charges against the ­prison guards who restrained Dungay Jr at Long Bay Jail.

“Racism is a pandemic,” Mr Gibson said.

“It’s a pandemic that’s killing people and it’s a pandemic that cannot be solved by people self-isolating.”

Dungay Jr’s mother, Leetona, said the protest would still go ahead on Tuesday, despite the ruling.

“We didn’t get the appeal, but we are still going to march, we are still going to rally,” Ms Dungay said.

“We are going to rally until they get charges — and then I will stop rallying.”