A protest linked to anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists and sovereign citizens is being planned for the Sydney Harbour Bridge later this month, in a move that could again test the ability of police to keep the landmark open.<\/p>\n
Police said the demonstration, scheduled for September 13, was being organised by an umbrella group known as Australia Unites Against Government Corruption.<\/p>\n
According to its website, organisers include My Place Australia, which has campaigned against vaccine mandates and so-called “radical gender theory” in schools.<\/p>\n
My Place Australia’s mission statement encourages members to “step away from the current system” and celebrate their “sovereignty”.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The plans follow a pro-Palestinian demonstration that went ahead despite the NSW premier’s best efforts. (AAP: Flavio Brancaleone)<\/p>\n
Online, some of its members share concerns about 5G towers and ‘chemtrails’.<\/p>\n
Other listed organisers include MMAMV Australia, whose Facebook page campaigns against “big pharma” and seeks to help children access “unvaccinated breastmilk”.<\/p>\n
The protest organisers encourage people to join a “peaceful protest” and deliver a vote of “no confidence”.<\/p>\n
“Trust is gone, authority has cracked, and survival is hanging by a thread,” the website said.<\/p>\n
“Even if the leader scrapes through, the writing is on the wall \u2014 their power has slipped, their backing has fractured, and the countdown to change has already begun.”<\/p>\n
In a statement, the organisers said the rally would coincide with similar demonstrations around Australia, “reminding those who have taken power that something must change in the way this country is being led and run”.<\/p>\n
They said speakers from Sunday’s March for Australia rallies would not be invited.<\/p>\n
Police plot their next move<\/p>\n
Under questioning by Liberal MP Susan Carter, senior police told a parliamentary budget estimates hearing that they had been notified about the protest, but gave no details about its planned route, duration, or potential impact on traffic.<\/p>\n
Protest organisers have told the ABC they plan to march from Bradfield Park at Milsons Point, across the harbour bridge to Hyde Park, where speakers will address the audience.<\/p>\n
They said they were “working cooperatively” with police and were expecting approximately 10,000 attendees.<\/p>\n
In a statement, police said they were “aware of a proposed planned assembly in Sydney on Saturday 13 September 2025”.<\/p>\n
“Officers from North West Metropolitan Region have received a Form 1 and are consulting relevant stakeholders.”<\/p>\n
The Form 1 is a notification to police about a planned public assembly.<\/p>\n
If police agree, protesters can be given protection from prosecution on certain summary offences, such as obstructing traffic.<\/p>\n
If police oppose the demonstration, the protest is not deemed illegal, but participants don’t have the same protections if they break the law.<\/p>\n
After trying \u2014 and failing \u2014 to stop August’s massive pro-Palestinian demonstration on the bridge, police now face the prospect of another Supreme Court showdown, should they oppose the Form 1.<\/p>\n
Premier’s fears realised<\/p>\n
Last month, after the pro-Palestinian demonstration went ahead, Premier Chris Minns warned people against thinking it was “open season” on the bridge.<\/p>\n
“We’re not going to have a situation where an anti-vaccine group has it one Saturday \u2026 then the weekend after that we have an environmental cause, and then the weekend after that \u2026 an industrial dispute.”<\/p>\n
He said he feared the Supreme Court’s decision may have set a precedent, making it easier for other groups to stage protests on the famous landmark.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Premier Chris Minns previously warned about “open season” on the Sydney landmark.\u00a0 (AAP: Dean Lewins)<\/p>\n
Mr Minns also didn’t rule out introducing legislation to prevent that from occurring.<\/p>\n
Then, a few weeks later, he told parliament he’d received advice that such a move could “go close” to being unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t want to have the situation, given the volatility of the circumstances, where I committed to introducing legislation that then gets knocked over in the High Court,” he said.<\/p>\n
However, he said he didn’t believe the government was “completely hamstrung” and he was still considering his options.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A protest linked to anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists and sovereign citizens is being planned for the Sydney Harbour Bridge…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[46580,64,63,82231,26295,82232,82230,82233,44,2733,1158,26296,2647,670],"class_list":["post-116079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-anti-vaxxer","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-united-against-government-corruption","tag-chris-minns","tag-conspiracy-theorists","tag-harbour-bridge","tag-mmamv","tag-news","tag-nsw","tag-police","tag-premier","tag-protest","tag-sydney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}