The NSW Supreme Court ruled on October 16 that NSW Labor’s anti-protest laws, which included giving police new powers to move on protesters near places of worship, are unconstitutional.
Justice Anna Mitchelmore said the amendments to the Bob Carr-led Labor’s were invalid as it “impermissibly burdens the implied constitutional freedom” on political expression.
The Palestine Action Group (PAG) challenged the validity of the new anti-protest laws, which were introduced in February at the height of NSW Labor’s campaign over an alleged spike in antisemitism.
New clauses prohibited protests near places of worship — which affected the whole CBD and definitely Hyde Park, where most of the mass Palestine rallies over two years have started and ended.
Civil rights advocates, Palestine campaigners and Greens MPs spoke out against the new laws and a few Labor MPs voiced their concerns internally.
NSW Council of Civil Liberties President Timothy Roberts and lawyer Peter O’Brien said when the PAG challenge was launched in June that the new laws were an “overreach” and must be retracted.
At the time, Minns was refusing to appear before a NSW Legislative Council inquiry into alleged acts of antisemitism connected with an explosive-laden caravan found on a property in Dural, which the police had said was likely a hoax.
Nevertheless, Minns used that charged moment to introduce a new layer of anti-protest laws after having tried to stop Palestine protests since October 2023.
O’Brien said back then the laws were “unconstitutional and undermine the right to freedom of association”.
Whether NSW Labor will step back from its attacks on democratic rights and free speech in the wake of this court ruling remains to be seen.
But it has been well and truly exposed for its pursuit of anti-democratic measures.