Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Sydney has turned into a major legal flashpoint, with the NSW Supreme Court handing down its decision on whether a mass pro‑Palestinian rally at Town Hall can proceed under extraordinary protest restrictions.
Herzog is in Australia at the invitation of the Albanese government after last year’s terror attack in Bondi where 15 people were killed during a Hanukkah celebration. The Israeli President is meeting political leaders and bereaved families during a four‑day trip in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.
Ahead of his visit, the NSW government declared the trip a “major event” under the Major Events Act, a law usually used for big sporting fixtures and festivals, activating expanded police powers across parts of the CBD and eastern suburbs. Those powers allow officers to shut down sections of the declared zone, limit how many people can remain there and issue fines of up to $5,500 to anyone who refuses directions.
Palestine Action Group Sydney had planned a 5.30pm rally at Sydney Town Hall followed by a march to NSW Parliament, estimating a crowd of around 5,000 people, and lodged a Form 1 with police “with plenty of notice” to secure the usual legal protections for a street march. The group brought an urgent Supreme Court challenge arguing that treating a rolling presidential visit as a “major event” stretches the legislation beyond its purpose and was done for the improper purpose of “shutting down a protest”. The Act explicitly says the government “may not declare an industrial or political demonstration or protest to be a major event”, and the court was asked to decide whether using the law in this way was lawful.
Herzog has defended his visit and criticised the protests when asked about demonstrators rallying against him in Sydney. “I have come here in goodwill and in a message that people of Australia — Australia and Israel are close friends and allies since the days of old,” he told reporters, arguing that the demonstrations “undermine and delegitimise” Israel’s “mere existence”.
“We did not seek that war on October 7,” he added, saying “people were butchered, murdered, raped and burnt and abducted” and noting that bereaved families from Kibbutz Nir Oz had travelled to Bondi to “express their condolences here at Bondi”.
Police and the Minns government say they are trying to balance protest rights with safety concerns in the wake of the Bondi attack and months of large rallies over Gaza.
NSW Premier Chris Minns has said people “retain the right to express their views lawfully”, while the major event declaration and a separate public assembly restriction effectively ban mobile marches through a large part of the CBD unless police grant an exemption. Acting Assistant Commissioner Paul Dunstan has warned that enforcing the orders “may and will easily result in arrests” if protesters attempt to march from Town Hall in defiance of the restrictions.
Speaking to PEDESTRIAN.TV before the hearing, Palestine Action Group organiser Josh Lees described the framework as “a huge restriction on our democratic rights to protest”, saying it was “outrageous” that rights were being curtailed “to be able to roll the red carpet out for someone who has been accused of inciting genocide”.
Tonight’s Town Hall action forms part of a nationwide day of protest against Herzog’s visit, with rallies and marches planned in cities and regional centres and support from Palestinian and Muslim community organisations, Jewish groups, unions, Greens MPs and some Labor members.
Organisers say they have consistently held large, peaceful rallies over the past two and a half years and are urging people to attend in “huge numbers” to defend protest rights and call for an end to Australian support for Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
Lead image: Getty
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