NSW Police Commissioner Confirms Protest Restrictions Will Not Be Extended Again

New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon has announced that the controversial restrictions on protests in Sydney’s CBD and eastern suburbs have not been extended. The laws have been in place since Christmas Eve.

The laws grant police the power to refuse authorisation for public protests for up to 90 days after a terrorist incident, restricting demonstrations in certain areas. The restrictions do not actually ban protests but rather remove certain legal protections for protesters, including exemptions relating to traffic obstruction and public order offences.

The laws were implemented following the December 14 Bondi terrorist attack, and allowed the commissioner to designate public spaces as restricted from assemblies for two weeks after a declared terror incident, with fortnightly extensions possible for up to three months. Civil liberty groups and activists have criticised the fast-tracked legislation, arguing that it removes people’s democratic right to protest.

Despite the laws, there were significant protests last week in Sydney’s CBD against the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, which turned into multiple violent clashes between police and protesters, with evidence of alleged brutality from police drawing wide criticism. However the fallout from those protests played a “very little” role in the decision to not extended the laws, Commissioner Lanyon said.

“I had significant concerns about the safety of the community and managing the visit of a head of state,”  said Commissioner Lanyon. “I am satisfied that conditions that led to the extension last time do not exist now.”

The police commissioner also called for “a time of calm” and said he wished to work closely with those who want to express their views through protest. He also acknowledged that the restriction declarations had been “felt by different parts of society in different ways”.

“This is about starting to get the community back to what is the normal.”