Constitutional Challenge Launched Against Minns Government’s Proposed Anti-Protest Laws

A constitutional challenge to the Minns Government’s Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 has been launched by activist groups and politicians to address anti-protest laws that have been described as “draconian” and “authoritarian”.

The Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 was created in the days following the attack on a Hanukkah festival in Bondi that took 15 lives on Sunday, December 14th. The bill comprises three main components: to enact stricter gun legislation, to make displaying symbols of terrorist organisations illegal, and to give police significantly more powers to quash protests.

Although the bill has received mostly bipartisan support and passed the Legislative Assembly yesterday, civil rights groups Palestine Action Group, Jews Against Occupation ‘48 and Black Caucus announced today that they would formally challenge the legislation in court, arguing that premier Chris Minns is unfairly conflating the attack with the pro-Palestinian movement.

In a press conference today, Palestine Action Group organiser Josh Lees said: “These laws will take away the rights of everyone in NSW to gather together as a community to express their views, to express their opposition to whatever government policies they oppose, to demand change, all the things that have been so crucial to our democracy for so many years.”

Michelle Berkon of Jews Against Occupation also spoke at the event, accusing Minns of utilising the attack at Bondi to implement these restrictive laws. She said: “By hiding behind ‘Jewish safety’, you are not only scapegoating millions of Australians protesting genocide, but using Jewish people as your human shields. We will bear the resentment of the community; you are endangering us, shame on you.”

Berkon also addressed the Minns government’s intentions to ban the phrase ‘globalise the intifada’: “How do we feel about the Jews who stood up in the Warsaw ghettos against their oppressors? Personally, I support them and resistance against oppression, genocide, murder, racism. When we say ‘globalise the intifada’, what we mean is bringing to the world’s attention the oppression of the Palestinian people.”

Support for constitutional challenge from advocacy groups, politicians

Several advocacy groups like NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) and the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), as well as politicians like the Greens’ Spokesperson for Justice Sue Higginson, are also supporting the challenge to the anti-protest bills.

At the conference, Higginson said: “The Minns Labor government needs to take a pause today and pull these laws out of the NSW Upper House. We were called back to Parliament on the promise and commitment that we were here to enact gun safety laws, to address the horrendous, hate-filled gun violence that we saw on our beach in Bondi.

“Instead, we’re here with the added measure to dilute and offend our democracy and our civil rights. And we know all that will do is feed hate, it will feed dissent, and it will silence the voices right now who need to be heard. The idea that this is a response or necessary measure is beyond comprehension.”

APAN President Nasser Mashni also spoke and called Minns “drunk on power” in his attempts to destroy social cohesion. He said: “To draw a straight line from those protestors to the horror that happened in Bondi is disgusting, and premier Minns should have a good hard look at himself.”

Other speakers at the conference included Nick Hanna of Hanna Legal, who is expected to file the challenge on behalf of the activist groups, and Timothy Roberts from NSWCCL.

Protestors shouting banned phrase at Town Hall

After the bill passed the NSW Parliament’s lower house yesterday protestors took to the steps of Sydney’s Town Hall on Monday December 22nd to show their opposition to the Minns Government’s new anti-protest laws by chanting “globalise the intifada”.

This culminated in a rally/vigil on Monday December 22nd with hundreds of protestors near Town Hall in Sydney, organised by activist groups Jews Against the Occupation ‘48 and Stop the War On Palestine (SWOP).

As per reporting by The Guardian, protestors held a minute of silence for the victims at Bondi before collectively chanting the phrase “globalise the intifada”. The protest had a number of speakers, including SWOP organiser Adam Adelpour who said: “No one in this state should have to surrender their support for Palestine and their opposition to genocide and pledge allegiance to the terror state of Israel to express grief.”

The Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 is expected to have the support to pass the NSW Parliament’s upper house today. Premier Chris Minns has defended the bill, claiming that the phrase “globalise the intifada” incites violence and shared his beliefs that pro-Palestinian protestors are potentially “unleashing forces they can’t control.”