Australia Lifts Extraordinary Restrictions on Protests in NSW

(MENAFN) Australian authorities dismantled sweeping restrictions on public demonstrations in New South Wales Tuesday, ending nearly two months of emergency controls on assembly that followed a deadly mass shooting at a Sydney Jewish festival, local media reported.

NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon announced he no longer required the extraordinary powers originally granted in the wake of the Dec. 14 attack at Bondi Beach's Jewish festival — a massacre that claimed 15 lives and left dozens wounded. The powers had authorized police to restrict or entirely block protests across designated Sydney zones, media reported.

"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," Lanyon said.

The curbs, first imposed on Christmas Eve, had drawn sharp criticism from civil liberties groups throughout their duration.

The announcement came just one week after officers forcibly dispersed demonstrations against the Australian visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, with clashes erupting as thousands flooded streets across the country in protest.

The controversy has now reached the courts. Civil liberties advocates and protest organizers have filed a constitutional challenge before the NSW Court of Appeal, seeking to bar authorities from invoking comparable emergency powers should a future terror attack be declared — a move that signals the legal battle over protest rights in Australia is far from over.

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