2025-02-19
The NSW Government has rushed through a suite of laws that will significantly restrict the right to protest in NSW. The government suggested these laws were necessary to address the alarming rise in racially charged attacks and hate crimes.
“We must unequivocally condemn racism, Antisemitism, and Islamophobia. Every person, regardless of their background, has the right to feel safe and to practise their faith freely” said NSW Greens Democracy spokesperson Kobi Shetty.
“However, this bill does not effectively address those concerns. The bill wrongly conflates hate crimes with peaceful protest and grants sweeping new police powers that threaten our fundamental democratic freedoms.”
The bill introduces broad new police powers to issue "move on" orders to protestors near places of worship, without requiring intent to obstruct.
Ms Shetty warned that these vague provisions could be misused to stifle lawful protests, particularly in Sydney’s CBD, where many major places of worship are located.
"Under these laws, peaceful protests at Town Hall, Hyde Park, or even outside Parliament could be shut down simply for being ‘near’ a place of worship," Ms Shetty said.
"There is no clear definition of what ‘near’ means, leaving it up to police discretion—a power that has repeatedly been used to disproportionately target First Nations people and other marginalised groups."
Legal and human rights organisations, including the Human Rights Law Centre, have raised the alarm about the bill’s overreach. They argue that it lacks clear legal thresholds, fails to meet human rights standards, and is likely to face constitutional challenges.
"Religious vilification and intimidation are already criminal offences," Ms Shetty said. "The violent incidents we’ve seen in recent months have been dealt with under existing laws. This bill is not about safety—it’s about suppressing dissent and expanding police powers to crackdown on protests."
The Greens sought to amend the legislation last night to address ambiguity and to reduce the impact these laws would have on human rights. This included a move to ensure that these new laws would not override the common law right to protest.
“I’m incredibly disappointed that the NSW Labor Government did not support our sensible amendments to remove vague provisions and ensure the common law right to protest is protected.
“Instead, we have another anti-protest bill on the books. One that will not meaningfully protect faith-based communities, but that will have a chilling effect on our democracy,” Ms Shetty said.