Pro-Palestinian protesters are planning to go ahead with a march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge this Sunday, despite NSW Police and Premier Chris Minns stepping in to try to block the event, citing public safety and traffic concerns.
The demonstration, organised by the Palestine Action Group (PAG), is a response to the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. PAG has officially lodged an application with NSW Police for roughly 10,000 people to march across the city’s most iconic landmark. The plan aims to send a strong message about what PAG describes as the “deliberate starvation of two million Gazans” and to push governments to act.
However, NSW Police said yesterday they would not allow the protest to go ahead as planned. Acting Deputy Commissioner Peter McKenna explained, “We cannot facilitate that public assembly this Sunday. The main rationale behind that is public safety.”
He raised the risk that closing the bridge could block emergency services and create major problems for traffic.
While police have offered to discuss alternate routes and times, they’ve been clear: if protesters do attempt to march on the bridge, the matter will be taken to the Supreme Court.
Despite this, organisers are standing firm. The Palestine Action Group argue that the urgency of Gaza’s situation warrants exceptional action. In a statement posted to Facebook, the group said, “Hundreds are starving to death, and Gazan authorities warn that 40,000 babies are at imminent risk of death due to a lack of baby formula, as a result of Israel’s blockade and deliberate starvation of the strip.” PAG says they have been “inundated with support in a way that has never been seen in these past two years of genocide”.
Organiser Josh Lees told SBS News the protest is a “special call” due to the “unprecedented and urgent horrific situation in Gaza”.
Lees argued the bridge “is such a powerful symbol” and said to media on Tuesday, “We don’t live in a society where the Premier gets to decide who and where we get to protest.”
Premier Chris Minns, meanwhile, has emphasised that the bridge is “one of the most critical pieces of infrastructure in our city”, and said, “Unplanned disruption risks not only significant inconvenience, but real public safety concerns. We cannot allow Sydney to descend into chaos.”
Minns also pointed out that previous closures of the bridge — for World Pride or film shoots — had been planned for months, not days.
Other voices have weighed in, too. Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore called the bridge an “incredibly powerful symbol” but urged for a suitable alternative location — unless “community sentiment is significant enough to warrant the use of the bridge”, per The Guardian. Several NSW Greens MPs penned an open letter to police and the government asking that the demonstration be allowed, describing it as “the defining humanitarian issue of our time”.
While authorities and organisers remain at loggerheads, discussions are ongoing about potential alternate routes. As of now, authorities are preparing for legal action and have warned that marchers “do not have the protections under the summary offences act” if they go ahead without approval.
The Palestine Action Group are currently urging people to promote the protest and hope to “see an immense and peaceful display of humanity against genocide this Sunday”.
Lead image: Instagram / Getty
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