Civil society groups are warning NSW premier Chris Minns against tightening protest rules in Sydney’s CBD, citing constitutional and international law risks.
NSW premier Chris Minns is facing pressure from civil liberties groups to abandon plans for further restrictions on protests in Sydney’s CBD.
Nine organisations have written to Minns arguing that confining demonstrations to specific areas would be “untenable” and could breach Australia’s international human rights obligations.
The letter, coordinated by the Australia Democracy Network, follows reports the NSW government is considering changes to the form 1 system and land use rules to limit protests in the CBD. Options under consideration include designating the Domain as a formal protest site and granting police discretion to refuse protest notifications once a threshold is reached.
Signatories to the letter include Amnesty International, Human Rights Law Centre, Redfern Legal Centre and Aboriginal Legal Service.
The groups warned that the UN human rights committee has said there can be no blanket ban on assemblies across all public places except one designated location.
They argued protest restrictions must be necessary, proportionate and precise to comply with the implied freedom of political communication in Australia’s constitution, and cautioned against protest notification systems becoming a form of authorisation.
The letter also urged the government not to criminalise the chant “globalise the intifada”, saying that while community safety is a legitimate concern following the Bondi attack, limiting protests would not address underlying harms.
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