A pro-Palestine protest at the Sydney Opera House has been banned from going ahead.
Police challenged the Palestine Action Group’s proposed protest during a full-day NSW Court of Appeal hearing on Wednesday.
Organisers had hoped that Sunday’s march would see at least 40,000 people flock to the CBD and march to the iconic harbourfront landmark.
NSW Chief Justice Andrew Bell, Common Law Chief Judge Ian Harrison, and Justice Stephen Free handed down their verdict on Thursday morning.
Justice Free noted a protest of that size would have ‘given rise to a risk of crowd crush’, a unanimous view shared by the judges.
NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Peter McKenna had earlier warned that the proposed event would be a ‘disaster’ and threaten public safety, as the Opera House forecourt has a maximum safe capacity of 6,000.
‘It has disaster written all over it,’ Assistant Commissioner McKenna told the court on Wednesday.
‘We are not anti-protest. All the altruism in the world doesn’t assist when you have a physical situation where we believe numbers are far too excessive to keep people safe.’
A 2023 protest outside the Sydney Opera House saw an Israeli flag burned and flares fired
A pro-Palestine protest at the Sydney Opera House this Sunday has been banned
Assistant Commissioner McKenna is due to address the media about the court decision later on Thursday morning.
Before the verdict was handed down, organisers and lawyers behind the Palestine Action Group declined to confirm whether they would press on with an unauthorised protest.
Comparing the protest to a massive August rally at the Sydney Harbour Bridge attended by more than 100,000 in the rain, Justice Bell expressed concerns that even more could attend Sunday’s event.
He also noted Macquarie Street could become a ‘narrow funnel’ that pushes protesters into a tight space.
Palestine Action Group’s lawyers argued that previous unticketed events at the Opera House, such as the popular light show Vivid, were managed capably.
In the 1990s, Australian-New Zealand band Crowded House performed on the steps of the Opera House to a crowd of 100,000, organisers noted in a post on social media.
The lawyers also argued that ‘altruism and mutual assistance’ would prevent a public safety catastrophe.
Outside the court on Wednesday, Palestine Action Group spokeswoman Amal Naser highlighted the importance of the protest.
‘We can see no end to this genocide,’ she said.
‘That’s why it is urgent, right now, for us to protest, to demand that the Australian government abide by its international law obligations to prevent and punish Israel for this genocide.’
More than 40,000 protesters were expected to attend this Sunday’s proposed rally
Justice Bell expressed concerns that crowds at Sunday’s proposed rally at the Opera House could exceed the 100,000 that shut down the Sydney Harbour Bridge in August
Israel has repeatedly denied such allegations, even though the United Nations commission and top international law scholars have found it has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Palestine Action Group has been organising weekly rallies in Australia’s capital cities since Israel’s military assault on Gaza began in 2023.
About 1200 people killed after Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
As of the latest reports, 48 hostages taken during the October 7 attacks are still believed to be in captivity in Gaza, with around 20 of them thought to be alive.
The subsequent war has already killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The ban on Sunday’s protest comes as US President Donald Trump announced that Hamas and Israel have agreed to a peace deal in Gaza after days of negotiation.
‘I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.
‘This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a strong, durable, and everlasting peace.
‘All parties will be treated fairly! This is a great day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!!’
NSW has a permit system that allows protesters to block public roads and infrastructure unless a court denies permission after a police challenge.
An impromptu demonstration was staged by pro-Palestinian supporters on the Sydney Opera House forecourt in the days following the October 7 massacre in 2023.
