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In brief
- NSW Police commissioner Mal Lanyon said he was satisfied there was no need to extend the restrictions by another two weeks.
- The organisers of a rally protesting Isaac Herzog’s Australian visit are still pursuing a constitutional challenge to the laws.
Restrictions on protests, which were enacted following December’s terror attack in Bondi, have officially been rescinded.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon announced on Tuesday that the special powers curtailing public gatherings in certain parts of Sydney are no longer necessary, more than two months after the incident.
This decision follows a week marked by police forcefully dispersing demonstrators protesting the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Australia. During the demonstrations, protesters were reportedly punched and pepper-sprayed by the police.
In response to the events, the state’s police oversight body has launched an investigation into numerous complaints of alleged misconduct by officers during these protests.
The original protest restrictions were swiftly put into place on Christmas Eve after an emergency session of the NSW parliament and had been extended several times since then.
The visit of the Israeli president had driven the latest extension of protest restrictions, Lanyon said, as he urged the community to be calm.
“We had the visit of a head of state; I had significant concerns about the safety of the community in managing the visit of a head of state (and) the movement of Jewish Australians who were there,” he said.
“I’m satisfied the conditions that led to the extension last time do not exist now, and I’m more than happy for (police) to work with protesters.”
Organisers of the 9 February rally are pressing on with a constitutional challenge in the NSW Court of Appeal to stop the laws from being used if a future terror attack is declared.
“The police commissioner was explicit that these undemocratic powers were all about “protecting” Herzog from “significant animosity” and mass protest,” the Palestine Action Group said.
“Protesters who had nowhere to go were pepper-sprayed, assaulted, injured and arrested by an out-of-control police force who thought they could act with impunity.”
How do the laws work?
The laws were rushed through NSW parliament after the deadly 14 December Bondi shooting and gave the commissioner the ability to limit protests after a declared terrorist incident.
The restrictions cover two-week periods, which can then be extended up to a total of three months.
Lanyon deployed his powers almost immediately, restricting protests across Sydney for two weeks from Christmas Eve.
The restrictions were later relaxed to cover areas that included most of the city centre and large parts of the eastern suburbs, including Bondi. They were extended by Lanyon multiple times.
Despite the fiery demonstration at Sydney’s Town Hall, where both police and protesters were hospitalised, Lanyon argued the use of the laws had been a success.
Under the restrictions, protesters at Town Hall were not allowed to march to parliament as they had intended. The event was also policed under a major events declaration that gave authorities powers to clear the area at their determination.
No officers have been stood down due to alleged police brutality, Lanyon said.
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