Labor premier Chris Minns doesn't deserve a second term, says a trade union leader who threatens to "go" any leader standing by anti-protest laws.
Civil libertarians, jailed protesters and backbench NSW Labor MPs took aim at increased policing of rallies on Thursday while highlighting creeping authoritarianism towards political protest.
The concerns come after pressure from federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton to ban pro-Palestine rallies in recent weeks and a review ordered by Mr Minns into the cost of policing weekly events.
The maritime union went further than all others, attacking Mr Minns' credibility and warning that he'd face union opposition if he failed to repeal anti-protest laws.
"Chris Minns is probably one of the most conservative premiers in this state," the maritime union's Sydney branch president Paul Keating said.
"He doesn't deserve that position as premier and it's time that he goes."
Mr Keating and other activists called for the immediate repeal of laws that imposed harsher penalties including jail time for blockading major roads or public facilities.
The state legislation, criticised for being anti-democratic, was rushed through parliament with coalition and Labor support in 2022 following repeated disruptive protests in central Sydney.
"This is the most anti-democratic law that's ever been put in place in regards to the right to protest," Mr Keating said.
"You wouldn't see it in Europe, you wouldn't even see it in America. Yet we have it here.
"Any politician who doesn't stand on the side of democratic freedoms and civil rights, we're going to go them."
Labor backbencher Cameron Murray said moves to push protests off streets into parks showed it was "under threat".
"The whole point of a peaceful protest is to be loud, in your face, to disrupt people for a short period of time to get your message across," Mr Murray told parliament.
His colleague Anthony D'Adam decried the culture of policing protest under both Labor and Liberal governments and warned politicians were becoming too preoccupied by the daily news cycle.
"Rather than focusing on the long-term consequences, we get drawn into a process of trying to win the media cycle each day and advocating for things that might get currency in the moment," he said.
Labor ministers stood by the right to protest but said law-breakers needed to face consequences.
"You can express your views at a protest but you can't break the law," Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said.
Deputy Liberal leader Natalie Ward defended the criminalisation of blockades designed to disrupt society.
"The intention was always to ensure lawful protest could take place," she said.
The NSW premier has hosed down suggestions of a user-pays policing scheme for protests, an idea pushed by the NSW opposition.
But he remains concerned that having police monitoring serial protests reduces focus on other aspects of community safety such as road safety.
"I recognise this isn't perfect - some people are going to have their nose out of joint," he told reporters on Thursday.
"But at the end of the day, nothing is more important than the safety and security of the people of NSW."
