Islamic leaders have accused Chris Minns of stoking community division by flagging plans to make it harder for pro-Palestinian demonstrators to hold marches through Sydney, saying the premier’s continued criticism of the protest movement undermined their calls for calm. Minns flagged on Tuesday his intention to make it easier for police to object to protest marches because of their impact on police resources, saying the weekly pro-Palestine demonstrations had forced police to divert resources from other duties such as roadside drug and alcohol testing. NSW Premier Chris Minns.
Credit: Janie Barrett Citing the costs of policing the protests – he said police had spent $5.4 million on wages for officers to be at the demonstrations between January and September this year – Minns announced a review into “the resources committed to continual protests”. Following a year of weekly demonstrations by pro-Palestinian activists, Minns said he wanted NSW Police “in a position to be able to, if they feel they don’t have the resources, deny an application for a march through Sydney”.
The announcement – which caught members of the government off guard – also prompted criticism from union leaders. Despite Minns saying industrial action would be hived off from any crackdown, the head of Unions NSW Mark Morey said adding a “financial hurdle” to the freedom of protest “undermines that very freedom”. “Democracy should not be monetised.
We might not like every protest.
