Pro-Palestine group vows Sydney Harbour Bridge march will go ahead

Activists demanding access to Sydney Harbour Bridge face a standoff with authorities as police union warns the planned protest would require its closure.

Pro-Palestine activists barred from marching across the Sydney Harbour Bridge by Premier Chris Minns said on Monday they would protest regardless of any orders by the state government and NSW Police. Picture: NewsWire

You can now listen to The Australian's articles. Give us your feedback.

You can now listen to The Australian's articles.

NSW Police have rejected an application by the Palestine Action Group to march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge this weekend, paving the way for a battle in the Supreme Court.

“After careful deliberations, we’ve made a decision … that we cannot facilitate that protest, that public assembly this Sunday. The main rationale behind that is quite clearly public safety,” acting deputy police commissioner Peter McKenna said.

“If it’s … the case that the applicant (PAG) says they want to go ahead with that public assembly on the Harbour Bridge, we will be going to the Supreme Court and lodging an application to have that matter heard and have the protest deemed unauthorised.”

The “March for Humanity” was set to cross the Harbour Bridge on Sunday, August 3.

“We will speak further with the applicant and see if we can negotiate,” Mr McKenna said. “We don’t want conflict. We don’t want an issue there, but if it’s the case that … we can’t achieve public safety then we will do what we have to do to ensure that people are kept safe.

“We certainly do not want that. We just want these people to have a think about it, (and) see what they can do that is achievable for everyone.

“If people do attend on Sunday, they do not have the protections they would normally have on public assemblies … and they may (find) themselves caught up in a situation where they are lawfully moved on. The PAG made clear they would challenge the decision and would not accept an alternative location for the protest.

PAG has said they will fight the decision in the courts.

“If the NSW Police are determined to act as Chris Minns’ pawns and oppose our march in the courts, then we will see them in court,” a spokesperson for the Palestine Action Group said.

“The March for Humanity to save Gaza, marching across the Sydney Harbour Bridge this Sunday, must go ahead.

“Chris Minns has made his views clear, that he will never, at any time, ‘under any circumstances’, or with any amount of warning, support this march of Sydneysiders against genocide. Thankfully, it’s not up to him.”

It came after Mr Minns said he would block and divert the protest no matter when it was set for.

“I’m not questioning the motives of many of the protesters. I accept that this is a protest that many people want to have. My argument here is I can’t close down the central artery for a city as big as Sydney,” Mr Minns told ABC Sydney on Tuesday. “I wouldn’t do it for any circumstances.

“I think common sense has to play a role here, when it’s been closed in the past – and you can count on one hand over the last decade when it’s happened – it’s been months and months and months in the preparation, including enormous amounts of community communication so that the public understands that the central artery to get from north to south Sydney has been and will be blocked.”

Palestine Action Group organiser Josh Lees Picture: NewsWire

NSW Greens MP Jenny Leong Picture: NewsWire

The Police Association of NSW on Tuesday lent their support to Mr Minns, saying police safety had to be placed at the fore of any potential demonstration.

“The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a major arterial road where vehicles travel at 70 km per hour. The combination of protesters and vehicles travelling at those speeds is a recipe for disaster and a risk that this organisation cannot expose our members to,” PANSW president Kevin Morton said.

“Make no mistake, based on risk, the entire Bridge would need to be closed, similar to the 75th Anniversary (of the Harbour Bridge) celebrations in 2007, which required an enormous policing response and months of planning. The safety of the community is paramount and the only way that this protest could take place safely would be to shut down the Harbour Bridge entirely, cutting off access to Sydney CBD and beyond.

“To meet the operational response required, police would need to be moved from police stations all over the metropolitan area and diverted from their core duties.”

Mr Morton made a broader call for protesters to be reined in and their cost to the taxpayer minimised.

“Over the last two years, significant resources have been dedicated to ensuring community safety during planned protests, and this cannot continue in its current format without affecting the community or police safety,” he said. “I call on the Acting Commissioner to stand firm in denying this request as it sets a dangerous precedent for any other group wishing to do the same.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief Alex Ryvchin on Monday said the protest would be “sullying another Australian icon” after the October 9, 2023 Opera House protest, and urged the state government to stand firm.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief Alex Ryvchin opposes the ‘March for Humanity’ set to cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge Picture: Jane Dempster

NSW Greens MP Jenny Leong at a press conference said Mr Minns’ decision to light the sails of the Opera House in the colours of the Israeli flag after the October 7 attacks was a “message from Sydney saying which side we are on” and could only be rectified by allowing pro-Palestine activists to occupy another symbol of the city.

“The Premier chose to light up the Sydney Opera House in the colours of a genocidal regime. Right now, on the record, we have a message from Sydney saying which side we are on and we need to right that wrong,” the Newtown MP said.

“(We need to) make a very clear message this Sunday to say that the people of Sydney, the people of our communities, are on the side of peace and humanity.”

Embattled independent MP Mark Latham has also voiced support for the protest after pursuing a parliamentary investigation into the Minns government’s protest laws.