In brief
- NSW Police commissioner Mal Lanyon said he was satisfied there was no need to extend the restrictions by another two weeks.
- The organisers of a rally protesting Isaac Herzog's Australian visit are still pursuing a constitutional challenge to the laws.
Unprecedented restrictions on protests imposed in the wake of December's Bondi terror attack have been lifted.
On Tuesday, more than two months after the attack, NSW Police commissioner Mal Lanyon said he no longer needed the powers that restricted public assembly in some areas of Sydney.
The decision comes a week after police violently broke up protests against the Australian visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, which included demonstrators being punched and pepper-sprayed by authorities.
The state's police watchdog is investigating after receiving a significant number of complaints alleging misconduct.
The protest restrictions first came in on Christmas Eve after an emergency sitting of NSW parliament, and were extended multiple times.
The visit of the Israeli president had driven the latest extension of protest restrictions, Lanyon said, as he urged the community to be calm.
"We had the visit of a head of state; I had significant concerns about the safety of the community in managing the visit of a head of state (and) the movement of Jewish Australians who were there," he said.
"I'm satisfied the conditions that led to the extension last time do not exist now, and I'm more than happy for (police) to work with protesters."
Organisers of the 9 February rally are pressing on with a constitutional challenge in the NSW Court of Appeal to stop the laws from being used if a future terror attack is declared.
"The police commissioner was explicit that these undemocratic powers were all about "protecting" Herzog from "significant animosity" and mass protest," the Palestine Action Group said.
"Protesters who had nowhere to go were pepper-sprayed, assaulted, injured and arrested by an out-of-control police force who thought they could act with impunity."
How do the laws work?
The laws were rushed through NSW parliament after the deadly 14 December Bondi shooting and gave the commissioner the ability to limit protests after a declared terrorist incident.
The restrictions cover two-week periods, which can then be extended up to a total of three months.
Lanyon deployed his powers almost immediately, restricting protests across Sydney for two weeks from Christmas Eve.
The restrictions were later relaxed to cover areas that included most of the city centre and large parts of the eastern suburbs, including Bondi. They were extended by Lanyon multiple times.
Despite the fiery demonstration at Sydney's Town Hall, where both police and protesters were hospitalised, Lanyon argued the use of the laws had been a success.
Under the restrictions, protesters at Town Hall were not allowed to march to parliament as they had intended. The event was also policed under a major events declaration that gave authorities powers to clear the area at their determination.
No officers have been stood down due to alleged police brutality, Lanyon said.
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