Public protests and marches across much of Sydney have been temporarily banned for the next two weeks following the introduction of extraordinary police powers in New South Wales.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon announced late Wednesday night that public assemblies will be restricted for 14 days across the South West Metropolitan, North West Metropolitan and Central Metropolitan policing areas — essentially covering most of greater Sydney. The move comes under new powers passed by NSW parliament this week in response to last week’s deadly attack at a Hanukkah event in Bondi.
“This is a time for community to come together and to show respect and courtesy — it’s not a time for large public assemblies and division,” Lanyon said in a statement. “The community deserves to be safe and feel safe.”
Under the new laws, gatherings in the affected zones are automatically considered unauthorised. Police may issue move-on directions to anyone “causing obstructions or behaving in an intimidatory or harassing manner, or people who might cause or be likely to cause fear in another person”.
Events that were approved before this declaration will now be “taken to be revoked”.
The declaration will be reviewed after 14 days and can be extended fortnightly for up to three months.
The restrictions are part of a broader legislative package fast-tracked through parliament by Premier Chris Minns following the Bondi attack, which left 15 people dead. The laws include tougher gun regulations, expanded hate-speech offences, and new police powers to restrict protests after a terrorism designation.
Speaking at a Christmas Day event at the Rev Bill Crews Foundation, Minns backed the commissioner’s decision, saying: “I’m grateful that he’s done it, it was his decision, and I back it 100 per cent.” He added that while peaceful gatherings could still take place in some circumstances, mass protests were not appropriate “at the moment where [they] rip apart our social cohesion”, per the Sydney Morning Herald.
Civil liberties and legal groups have already raised concerns, calling the measures “draconian” and warning they could restrict legitimate demonstrations, including annual Invasion Day rallies on 26 January if the orders are extended. The Palestine Action Group Sydney, Jews Against the Occupation and the First Nations‑led Blak Caucus say they will lodge a constitutional case once the Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 passes Parliament.
Former NSW Supreme Court judge Anthony Whealy told ABC Radio that while safety is paramount, the government should be careful not to deepen divisions. “If this law were in force now and the Jewish community want to protest themselves for what they saw as, for example, inadequate policing at the Hanukkah event … they wouldn’t be able to,” he said.
Premier Minns rejected claims that protesting is being completely banned across Sydney, arguing on Wednesday the conditions only apply under counter-terrorism designations: “The rules and the laws are only in place under very strict conditions and that is for a terrorism designation … we’ve had very few terrorism designations over the last few years.”
Police Commissioner Lanyon maintained that the temporary halt to public assemblies was “not about silencing voices” but preventing further tension. “In the immediate aftermath of the attack at Bondi last week, further protest activity would aggravate fear and divisiveness in the community,” he said.
The 14-day declaration will remain in place until early January unless extended by the police minister, Yasmin Catley.
Lead image: Getty
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