Socialist Alliance welcomes NSW Supreme Court binning Minns’ anti-protest laws
The NSW Supreme Court ruled on April 16 that the laws which gave NSW Police unprecedented authority to unilaterally block authorised assemblies is unconstitutional.
The Chris Minns government, with the support of the Liberals, used the Bondi attacks to rush in new laws which bypassed the Summary Offences Act.
Minns used the terrible attacks in December to divide people, by making out that the Palestine solidarity movement was somehow responsible for the Bondi shootings.
Minns then brought in laws which gave an unelected official the right to decide which protests could go ahead. Basically, the laws were aimed at stopping all protests — but particularly those being organised by the anti-genocide movement.
Minns instructed the NSW Police to stop a protest against the visit of Isaac Herzog, and when 30,000 people showed up they became violent towards the protesters. This is now the subject of a police and law enforcement investigation.
The NSW Supreme Court found that the law impermissibly burdens the implied constitutional right to freedom of communication on government and political matters.
This is the third time that the highest court in NSW has ruled that Minns anti-protest laws are unconstitutional.
His laws banning protests near places of worship, brought in after the Dural caravan hoax terror plot in February 2025, were also declared unconstitutional.
Parts of other anti-protest laws were similarly declared unconstitutional in 2023 after they were challenged by two Knitting Nanna climate protesters.
Socialist Alliance welcomes the court’s decision, it is a victory for democratic rights, freedoms and the right to protest a genocide. A majority of people in NSW would agree, as many marched over the Harbour Bridge in protest at Israel’s genocide and Labor’s refusal to break ties with Israel.
If you were one of many protesters targeted by NSW Police at the Herzog rally, submit your complaint to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, and join the rally at Hyde Park, 1pm, Sunday, April 19, for Palestine Prisoners’ Day.
Further information:
Isaac Nellist 0468 526 096
Authorised by N. Spencer, 22-36 Mountain Street, Ultimo NSW 2007
We pay our respects to the First Nations peoples; sovereignty was never ceded.
