NSW premier Chris Minns has promised far-left extremist anti-Australia “invasion day” rallies on January 26 won’t be impacted by his sweeping new protest ban that came into effect on Christmas Eve.
The new firearms and protest legislation passed parliament early on Wednesday morning allowing the government to ban all public assemblies for up to three months following a terrorist incident, with no judicial oversight, despite pushback from MPs who warned the laws did not address radical Islamic terrorism.
Later on Christmas Eve NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon made the Public Assembly Restriction Declaration under the new laws, banning protests in the South West Metropolitan, North West Metropolitan and Central Metropolitan policing areas for 14 days.
Mr Minns, who has also promised new “hate speech” laws in response to the Muslim terrorist attack on a Jewish event at Bondi on December 14, said the protest ban was needed for public safety.
“We’ve had a devastating and traumatic, violent, murderous attack on members of our community, and the number one responsibility of the New South Wales government is peace and security for us in Sydney,” he said.
“You can internationalise these issues and I understand that there are concerns about what’s happening around the world, but if it manifests itself in violence here, we’re going to take action. We need to have rules in place that apply to everybody with a view to keeping this city and this state safe.”
But Mr Minns stressed that antiwhite far-left rallies on Australia Day, where militant aboriginal activists have in recent years called for the country to be abolished, would not be affected, ABC News reported.
“Obviously, assemblies like that can take place … it’s just that marches through the city through a form, one which I understand hasn’t traditionally been part of that protest,” he said.
“In any event, if it were the case that the police commissioner made that designation, he will obviously have to abide by the laws of the land.”
The March for Australia anti-immigration movement also has large rallies planned for Australia Day, including a march beginning in Prince Alfred Park on Cleveland Street in Sydney is expected to attract tens of thousands of patriotic attendees.
Header image: Left, “invasion day” protesters. Right, Chris Minns visits a mosque on December 23 (Facebook).
