Labor Premier Chris Minns is facing strong internal dissent from fellow Labor MPs as he doubles down on targeting future protests, including across the Harbour Bridge.
Greens justice spokesperson and solicitor Sue Higginson MLC will seek to repeal the Police move-on powers in NSW that are designed to limit protest, as the courts find against the police attempting to prevent peaceful protest.
The NSW Police are facing questions on their choices last week, as they unsuccessfully sought to challenge the March for Humanity and blocked protestors from dispersing safely in North Sydney, unilaterally declaring a last minute end to the protest and causing a choke point with a police blockade.
Labor Ministers Penny Sharpe and Jihad Dib joined several Labor MPs in marching across the Harbour, as Labor MPs Lynda Voltz, Julia Finn, Jo Haylen, Stephen Lawrence, Tony Sheldon, Bob Nanva, Alison Byrnes, Sarah Kaine, Cameron Murphy, Anthony D'Adam, and Ed Husic defied the Premier to join the March along with former Labor Premier Bob Carr.
Greens justice spokesperson and solicitor Sue Higginson MLC said:
"Labor Premier Chris Minns is acting strangely and is not listening. He has lost authority over his own caucus and on matters too significant to ignore",
"The Premier has come out saying he has no regrets about his fierce opposition to the history-making March for Humanity and is now making clear his opposition to future marches across the Bridge,"
"There are no current plans to march across the Harbour Bridge again, the moment has happened, it was yesterday, and the question now really has to be: where was the Premier? What was more important for the Premier, that he could not attend the March for Humanity? There may be good reasons he did not attend, but the people do deserve to know",
"The Premier also needs to understand that he has absolutely no legal power to block protests, as the courts have confirmed and nor should he,"
"Chris Minns doesn't understand how the law and democracy works. He's seeking to override the will of the people and is influencing the police with his personal opinion and his own ignorance and arrogance. This is not what a Premier should do, it is dangerous,"
"The Premier has spent months trying to shut down peaceful protests for Palestine and recently we saw the violent police assault on Hannah Thomas as she was peacefully gathered at a pro-Palestine protest in Belmore. We know police impunity and their misunderstanding of the excessive powers they wield contributed in part to the police violence. Police spent last week trying to challenge the community in the court, asserting that they had the authority to prevent peaceful protest. The role for police here is actually planning for the safe management of the community dispersing from the Harbour Bridge in North Sydney,"
"Protest in NSW is a critical feature of our democracy, and the State's response to protest can make the difference between whether it is safe, peaceful and understood. At the moment this is at risk in NSW because the Premier has driven a narrative of intolerance and oppression,"
"It is time to reset the system, that's why I am moving in Parliament this week to remove police powers to move on peaceful protestors, powers that were first introduced by the Perrottet Coalition Government to target climate protestors and then added to by Minns in his attempt to target pro-palestine protesters,"
