The fallout from a neo-Nazi rally held in Sydney on the weekend has continued, as rights groups and activists push back against the state premier's suggestion of expanding police powers in response.
Around 60 members of the National Socialist Network (NSN) group gathered outside NSW Parliament on Saturday morning, holding antisemitic banners and chanting Nazi slogans.
The protest, which neither the state's police commissioner nor the government were briefed about due to an "internal communication error", had been approved by NSW Police.
The commissioner, Mal Lanyon, has vowed a review into the decision, which has faced sharp backlash from leaders and Jewish community groups.
How did the protest get approved?
In NSW, groups planning a protest can seek authorisation by submitting what’s known as a 'Form 1', notifying the police of the plans for their assembly.
If at least seven days' notice is given when a Form 1 is submitted and a court has not prohibited the gathering, it is considered an authorised public assembly.
NSW Police can oppose the assembly during that period, taking the matter to court.
Authorisation of a planned assembly under the Form 1 process gives protest organisers and participants certain legal protections, meaning they cannot be charged simply for "participating in an unlawful assembly" and cannot be convicted of certain offences, such as obstructing a vehicle.
In the case of the NSN protest, Lanyon said a group called White Australia — the name the NSN is believed to be rebranding under — submitted a Form 1 to police on 28 October, more than a week before it was held. It was not rejected by police.
Lanyon said the decision to approve the rally would be reviewed.
He admitted an internal "communication error" meant he did not know the protest was taking place, and thus was not able to brief the government. NSW Police said a review was underway into that process.
"The police area command needs to make an assessment on what's on the Form 1," Lanyon said.
"They were comfortable … it was not one that they needed to actually take objection to."
Lanyon said the group had protested before and there had been "no issue with public safety" at previous demonstrations.
The group held a rally outside parliament in June, which was also authorised by police.
In a statement sent to SBS News, NSW Police said the Summary Offences Act provides a "broad range of freedoms for people to conduct public assemblies".
A spokesperson said the group's Form 1 indicated approximately 50 people would be attending the public assembly, "to protest against the Jewish lobby groups, but also the current hate speech laws".
"The local police area commander has delegated authority to make a determination based on the information contained in the Form 1, as to any potential public safety issues. No objections were undertaken at this time. Legal [advice] was sought in regard to a proposed banner, and it was determined that the actual wording did not constitute an offence," the spokesperson said.
"The organiser of the public assembly is known and was spoken to by officers at the public assembly. An investigation is underway, and police will review all available material to determine whether any offences occurred and will take action if appropriate and put people before the courts."
What about hate speech laws?
Saturday’s rally came after new hate speech laws were introduced in NSW in August that make it a criminal offence to deliberately incite racial hatred in public.
Lanyon said police were reviewing the protest to determine whether any laws had been broken under the new act.
"If they are, we'll certainly take appropriate action and put people before the court."
On Monday, NSW Premier Chris Minns also said he would be reviewing speeches made during the protest to determine whether existing hate speech laws had been breached or not.
"We can't let this happen again," he said.
Minns also said the government was seeking to "clarify and codify" rules surrounding the Form 1 process to ensure approval did not give protesters a "free pass" on hate speech.
Activists, lawyers say more police powers not needed
During a press conference on Saturday, Minns said of the protest that it was "likely the case" that police needed more legislated powers to "stop this kind of naked racism and hatred on Sydney streets".
Minns said senior lawyers inside the government had advised it that there was "room to move in relation to protecting public harmony further than what we’ve currently constituted".
That suggestion has been met with criticism from activists and legal experts, however, who say giving police more powers is not the answer.
A spokesperson for the Palestine Action Group, a Sydney-based group that has been organising pro-Palestinian demonstrations for more than two years, said on Monday that the Minns government could not use the rally as an excuse to pass more anti-protest laws.
"They have more than enough," said activist Josh Lees.
Palestine Action Group has faced tensions in the past with police over its own demonstrations.
Last month, plans by the group to rally in front of the Sydney Opera House were dashed after the NSW Supreme Court ruled in the police's favour, issuing a prohibition order.
Lees said it was "outrageous" that the government and police had repeatedly tried to block the group's protests against Israel's war on Gaza, while they "waved through neo-Nazi rallies".
He also contrasted Saturday's rally with an aggressive police response to anti-war demonstrations outside a weapons expo in Sydney last week, where police used pepper spray on protesters and made several arrests.
On Monday, Minns rejected the claim that the authorisation represented a "double standard" by NSW Police, arguing that police had granted and worked with Palestine Action Group organisers for "hundreds of rallies in Sydney".
"Premier Minns knows that this has nothing to do with adding more police powers or protest restrictions," Arif Hussein, a senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said in a statement given to SBS News.
"Rather than making another knee-jerk law and order response, Minns should be focused on coming up with a real plan to combat the far-right and Neo-Nazi organising in his state."
While not explicitly calling for expanded police powers, Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said "law enforcement and security agencies need the right legislative tools to monitor and disrupt violent extremists and to prevent them from menacing or physically harming peaceful Australians".
The Minns government has sought to expand police powers relating to public demonstrations this year.
Last month, sweeping anti-protest police powers were declared invalid by the state's Supreme Court.
The laws, swiftly implemented in February after a spate of alleged antisemitic acts, would have given police powers to move on protesters near places of worship.
Palestine Action Group activist Josh Lees took the NSW government to court over the decision, arguing it had a lack of clarity and would have a chilling effect on protest in the state.
Judge Anna Mitchelmore ruled the provision was invalid and "impermissibly burdened the implied constitutional freedom of communication on government or political matters".
MPs say they received threats over rally criticism
Meanwhile, two MPs said they had received threatening messages after criticising the rally on the weekend.
Federal independent MP Allegra Spender and state Liberal MP Kellie Sloane, whose overlapping electorates in eastern Sydney include large Jewish populations, have referred to police several inflammatory threats directed towards them on Sunday.
Allegra Spender said she had referred abusive messages sent to her to police. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
"It is pretty shocking and not something you ever want to hear, but we've referred it to the police," Spender told ABC radio on Monday.
"These are the real extremists out there. They're trying to intimidate the broader mainstream community."
Spender criticised both NSW Police and the state government for allowing the rally to go ahead, saying both had been unclear about "what should have happened instead of what actually did happen".
Sloane, similarly, said the government's handling of the rally had been a "complete stuff-up".
Minns condemned the messages while speaking to reporters on Monday, expressing admiration for both MPs.
– With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press
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