NSW Premier Chris Minns has defended the police commissioner’s snap decision to restrict public gatherings and protests for two weeks in Sydney following the Bondi attack, saying a situation where “mass protests rip apart our social cohesion” could not be risked.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon made the declaration late on Wednesday to ban public assemblies and protests from happening in Sydney’s central, north-west and south-west policing areas for 14 days, with the potential for the ban to be extended for up to three months.
Premier Chris Minns and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during a Christmas lunch hosted by the Rev Bill Crews Foundation.Credit: AAP
During this time, any applications to hold protests will not be accepted, and protests that go ahead will be considered unauthorised.
Speaking on Thursday, Minns said he was “grateful” for Lanyon’s decision and he “backs it 100 per cent”.
“I know that they’re extraordinary powers. We believe they are absolutely essential in keeping order and peace during this Christmas period and through the opening days of summer,” he said.
“We just can’t have a situation at the moment when mass protests rip apart our social cohesion. We’ve got an obligation to pull people together right now, and this is the right call.”
The decision was made under sweeping new laws tightening gun ownership and placing restrictions on protests that passed in NSW parliament around 3am on Wednesday.
Premier Chris Minns and Summer Hill MP Jo Haylen serve up food on Christmas Day. Credit: AAP
The legislation in the Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 has three key elements: creating an offence for displaying terrorist symbols, such as the IS flag; significant restrictions on firearm possession; and allowing the police commissioner to prevent protests occurring for up to three months after a terrorism incident.
