Australia news live: activist groups to challenge NSW protest laws; Minns wanting to ban chant ‘might make it popular’, organiser says

Three groups to launch challenge against NSW protest laws as soon as JanuaryPenry Buckley

The Palestine Action Group and Jews Against the Occupation have announced they will bring a constitutional challenge to controversial laws which restrict protests for up to three months following a terrorist attack.

The third co-applicant is the First Nations-led Blak Caucus. There are concerns about the laws’ potential impact on Invasion Day rallies on 26 January, which would fall within three months of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack.

The laws passed the lower house last night as part of the government’s omnibus bill on gun control, hate speech and protests, and is expected to pass the upper house tonight. The Greens have indicated they will move amendments to the protest laws in tonight’s debate.

Criminal defence lawyer Nick Hanna, who is representing the groups, said a challenge would likely be moved in early January on the basis that the laws burden the implied freedom of political communication in the Australian constitution.

There is yet to be any suggestion that the two [alleged] terrorists attended a single protest, or even supported the protests. In fact, we know that they are apparently inspired by the Islamic State, which is ideologically opposed to the Palestine protests. And so I think it’s for good reason that large segments of the public will be deeply concerned about the laws being passed today.

Constitutional law expert Prof Anne Twomey has said because the laws would ban the authorisation of protests under NSW’s form 1 system, rather than banning public assemblies outright, a challenge may not be successful. Hanna says his understanding is that the legislation “has the potential to effectively ban all protests for any cause”.

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The official memorial for the victims of the Bondi shooting was removed yesterday, but people are still leaving flowers for them. These photos were taken on Monday afternoon.

Flowers and mementos left by a makeshift memorial at Bondi Pavilion on Bondi Beach, NSW, Australia. Photograph: The GuardianStones with messages written on them and candles at a makeshift memorial at Bondi Pavilion. Photograph: The GuardianShareBanning pro-Palestine protest phrase ‘might make it popular’, organisers sayPenry Buckley

The constitutional challenge to the Minns government’s proposed anti-protest laws has support from a broad coalition of protest groups and advocates, including Labor Friends of Palestine, the NSW Council of Civil Liberties and climate activist group Rising Tide, all of whom spoke at today’s press conference.

The challenge is being supported in parliament by the NSW Greens, who have backed gun control reforms but condemned protest law changes. The party’s justice spokesperson, Sue Higginson, says the Greens will move amendments today to split the government’s bill, but may be forced to abstain from the final vote. Lower house Greens member Jenny Leong abstained from the second and third reading votes yesterday.

Questions from reporters have focused on the phrase “globalise the intifada”, which the NSW premier, Chris Minns, has said he intends to ban. Yesterday, hundreds gathered in Sydney to protest against the laws on public assemblies, with some chanting the phrase.

Josh Lees, organiser for the Palestine Action Group, says:

It’s a basic act of us supporting the uprisings of Palestinians against their oppression, against illegal occupation and genocide … and by the way, we have never chanted this, I’ve never chanted this in the last two years. So the fact that Chris Minns wants to ban it might make it popular. That’s the irony of this whole thing.

The government has said it will ask a parliamentary committee to investigate banning other “hateful statements”, including the controversial phrase, in further hate speech laws to be introduced next year, but this is not included in this week’s bill.

Debate has now begun in the NSW upper house. We will continue to bring you updates throughout the day.

Palestine Action Group organiser Josh Lees. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAPShare

Updated at 18.44 EST

Lego sets worth $3,000 stolen from Victorian toy store

Victoria police are appealing for public assistance after $3,000 worth of Lego was stolen from a toy store in the regional town of Colac on early on Sunday morning.

In a statement today (and I sincerely apologise for this in advance), police said:

Two offenders, lacking in Christmas spirit, forced their way through the front doors of the store on Murray Street in Colac about 4am.

With only two sleeps left until Christmas, Santa’s elves will have to work overtime as the pair stole $3K worth of Lego sets.

The thieves fled the scene in a grey Audi.

Police have released CCTV and images of two men who may assist police with their enquiries.

Investigators believe the offenders entered the store the day prior to the burglary.

They described the alleged offenders as follows:

The first offender is described as Caucasian in appearance, 160cms tall, of medium build, with black hair and wearing a black t-shirt, grey pants, grey runners and a black motorcycle helmet.

The second offender is described as Caucasian in appearance, 188cms tall, of medium build, with brown hair and wearing grey tracksuit pants, white runners, a black baseball cap and a distinctive black and white t-shirt.

Police are very keen to speak to any witnesses or anyone in the area at the time of the incident, and urged those who may have information to contact Crimestoppers.

Updated at 18.37 EST

Michelle Rowland pays back “around $10,000” in family travel expensesJosh Butler

The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, says she has repaid thousands in public expenses she claimed for a trip which included time on a family holiday in Perth.

At the height of the expenses and travel spending saga several weeks ago, Rowland said she had received advice from the parliamentary expenses watchdog that “a portion of the family reunion travel expenses were outside the guidelines”, relating to a trip she’d taken to Western Australia in July 2023.

Rowland’s office said she had undertaken at least 10 official engagements during the trip, which also included her flying family members to join her there.

In an ABC radio interview this morning, Rowland confirmed she’d repaid about half the total cost of the trip.

Rowland said:

I received advice from the independent authority that a portion of that, for one use two and a half years ago was outside the guidelines. So, I sought advice on that and repaid that amount.

The full figure will be publicly released in time. It was around $10,000. Again, I point out this is the point of IPEA. We sought advice so that that could be acted on, and that was.

Michelle Rowland. Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty ImagesShare

Updated at 18.36 EST

Three groups to launch challenge against NSW protest laws as soon as JanuaryPenry Buckley

“After the awful attack at Bondi, Australia is facing several reckonings,” Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz writes for Guardian Australia today.

He continues:

There’s a long-overdue national focus on antisemitism, something that the Jewish community has been worried about as long as I have been alive. There’s the ongoing concern about national security, and questions about how something like this could have happened. But to me, as a public health expert and Jewish Australian, perhaps the most important conversation we are finally having is the one about guns.

You can read the full opinion piece here:

ShareSussan Ley defends ‘expressing my anger and disappointment’ in outburst against Wong and Albanese

The federal opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has defended her outburst against Penny Wong and Labor yesterday, saying she was simply “expressing my anger and disappointment”.

Speaking on Seven’s Sunrise this morning, Ley said she was “not going to tolerate the empty rhetoric and weak response [to the Bondi shooting] we have seen from this Albanese government”.

Ley continued:

The feeling, the anger, the dismay, the distress is palpable [in the community]. It has taken the prime minister eight days to say the word “sorry”. If it takes him another eight days to call royal commission, that that is a shame, but he could do that today. He could recall the parliament to pass stronger laws to address the worst terrorist attack on Australian soil.

When the presenters noted that the attack felt very personal, Ley said:

It was me expressing my anger and disappointment on behalf of the community to the government. That’s what it was. I won’t tolerate, as I said, the weak response I have seen or [comments like Wong’s suggestion that the community] “take the temperature down”. This community is desperately seeking the one thing that will start the healing journey, which is this commission.

Sussan Ley. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAPShare

Updated at 18.10 EST

Ross River virus warning for Gippsland residents and holidaymakers

Residents of Gippsland and anyone heading there for a holiday this summer are being urged to protect themselves from mosquito bites, after Ross River virus was detected recently in mosquito surveillance traps.

The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has issued the warning of increased risk this morning after the Victorian Arbovirus Disease Control Program identified Ross River virus in multiple mosquito traps in Wellington and East Gippsland Shires over recent weeks.

While mosquito controls have been put in place on council land, DHHS says mosquito levels can be difficult to control with warm weather.

Ross River virus is contracted through bites from an infected mosquito. Many people do not develop symptoms, but some may experience fever, joint pain and swelling, muscle aches, fatigue or rash. Symptoms can last for weeks or months in some cases. There is no vaccine or specific treatment, and preventing mosquito bites is the most effective way to reduce the risk of infection.

DHHS recommends people travelling through Victoria this summer:

Wear long, loose-fitting, light-coloured clothing.

Use mosquito repellent containing picaridin or DEET on exposed skin.

Limit time outdoors when mosquitoes are most active, particularly at dawn and dusk.

Holidaymakers should pack repellent before leaving home, as stocks may be limited in smaller country towns.

Ensure accommodation, caravans and tents have intact mosquito screens.

Use mosquito coils.

Camp some distance from the edge of rivers/lakes, where mosquitoes breed.

Anyone who develops symptoms consistent with Ross River virus infection should seek advice from their GP.

Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAPShare

Updated at 17.42 EST

Mayor calls for patrons to return to Bondi Beach businesses

Bondi businesses are pleading for public support after the terror attack tore a rift through the local community.

The mayor of Waverley council, Will Nemesh, said it was understandable people had stayed away from the famous beach since the attack, but now was the time to return and support local traders.

Nemesh said many operators have seen a sharp decline in trade and revenue in the week since the shooting:

I have heard so many stories over the past week of businesses that swung into action amid the chaos on that night, sheltering patrons and helping those fleeing the shooting.

Those selfless acts of kindness should be celebrated and there is no better way to show your appreciation than with a bit of spending.

Residents visit cafes at Bondi beach as life gradually returns to normal a week after the deadly terror attack. Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images

The Bondi and Districts Chamber of Commerce president, Emmanuel Constantinou, said in a statement this morning that other operators had started trading early on the Monday after the shooting to continue serving the community and to provide supportive spaces for locals to gather:

From dawn, we had florists giving away flowers, bakeries offering free pastries to police and emergency services, and cafes serving up complimentary coffees.

That dedication continued throughout the week, from chemists offering extended trading hours to hospitality venues serving as informal community support spaces. Our beautiful local businesses were there for Bondi – now it’s time for Sydney to back them.

Updated at 17.40 EST

‘You don’t solve antisemitism by oppressing another portion of the community’

Timothy Roberts goes into the right to political protest and why it’s important for democracy:

Protest is about assembly and political speech and communication. We have a right, as a community, to step outside on the street, look each other in the eye, and say what we stand for or don’t stand for.

We saw that with the March for Humanity over the Harbour Bridge. The political class was telling us a particular perspective, yet hundreds of people marched over the bridge, and very quickly the tune was changed.

Unfortunately, the premier is connecting the march and other protests with the attack that we saw in Bondi. Those sort of links are inappropriate. Peaceful protest is an important way for us as democracy to know each other, to know what we’re thinking and where we stand.

Roberts notes that the Minns government is proposing to introduce a “really subjective” notion of what is or isn’t hate speech into criminal law, with his plans to ban the Palestinian resistance phrase “globalise the intifada”.

Quite frankly, the premier has a very poor track record with democratic rights. I don’t think the premier can be trusted alone to make that call. But at the very least, more time, community consultation, about what solutions are needed to a very difficult problem. You don’t solve antisemitism by oppressing another portion of the community. I’m concerned that that sort of response only heightens divisions …

Because very quickly, we get to a point where we’re silencing voices that have a legitimate place in our democracy for people to express themselves.

Updated at 16.39 EST

Civil liberties council says protest laws ‘incredibly poor government and political leadership’

Timothy Roberts, president of the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties, says the approach being taken by the NSW state and federal governments in pushing through new laws very quickly is “incredibly poor government and political leadership”.

Roberts, speaking to ABC TV, said the Council for Civil Liberties would be supporting the constitutional challenge to the anti-protest proposals.

Roberts said:

I think there’s a broad coalition of civil society that’s very concerned about these proposals and the civil liberties council is definitely about supporting that. We’re very concerned about the police commissioner being given far too broad powers to determine when we, as a community, should assemble or communicate with each other. That’s not up to the police commissioner – that’s us. We’ve been investigating the constitutionality of what’s been proposed, and we believe that it’s wanting …

Unlike Minns, we’re going to take some time to consider these laws and their constitutionality and the problems with them. We’ve got a government that’s passing things at an alarming rate. It’s a shame that it’s up to civil society to then pick up the slack of this government and measure these against the constitution and whether or not it’s appropriate …

It’s just incredibly poor government and political leadership at both levels, frankly. Sure, things like gun reform, there’s relatively broad support for. But even that is divisive. And to pursue such important legislation – legislation that cuts across our democratic rights – without consulting with community, without consulting with the rest of civil society, is an incredibly dangerous thing to do.

Updated at 16.38 EST

NSW Health just provided an update on the condition of patients in Sydney hospitals who were injured in the Bondi terror attack.

There is no change from last night’s update. Eight patients remain in a stable condition across five hospitals, and four in a critical but stable condition.

NSW Health gives latest update on injured Bondi shooting victims

As of last night, there were 12 patients receiving care in Sydney hospitals for injuries sustained in the Bondi shooting.

As of 7.30pm, Monday 22 December:

One patient is in a stable condition at Prince of Wales hospital.

One patient is in a critical but stable condition and one patient is in a stable condition at St George hospital.

Three patients are in a critical but stable condition and one patient is stable at St Vincent’s hospital.

Four patients are stable at Royal Prince Alfred hospital.

One patient is in a stable condition at Royal North Shore hospital.

Updated at 16.26 EST

Minns criticises ‘intifada’ chant at rally against anti-protest laws

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has criticised protesters who chanted “globalise the intifada” in opposition to his proposal to ban the phrase.

About 300 people gathered at the protest outside the town hall in Sydney last night, beginning with a minute’s silence to remember the 15 people killed in the Bondi terror attack. Rally organiser Adam Adelour told the crowd that “intifada” was an Arabic word meaning uprising, revolution, or shaking off.

“If there is more intifada against genocide, there will be less genocide,” he said.

A spokesperson for Minns told the Australian on Monday:

We were repeatedly told that tonight’s gathering would be a vigil for the death of innocent Jewish Australians and yet it has resulted in a violent chant being spread on the streets of Sydney.

This proves the need for further laws that the government will be introducing to ban this hate speech and calm a combustible situation in our city.

Since the terror attack last Sunday, things have changed and we have to change too.

Protesters at Sydney town hall. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The GuardianShare

Updated at 16.07 EST

Bowen: Sussan Ley’s outburst against Wong was ‘pretty disgusting’

Chris Bowen was asked on ABC RN about Sussan Ley’s quite vocal attack on the government yesterday, particularly the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, whom the federal opposition leader claimed “had not shed a single tear” for the victims of the Bondi massacre.

You can catch up on that here:

Bowen responded:

I thought that said more about Sussan Ley than it does about Penny Wong. I thought that was a disgusting element of an increasingly partisan pile-on in the wake of a national crisis. Australia has in the past come together at moments like this, whether it be the Lindt cafe or Port Arthur, and oppositions have chosen not to make political points. This opposition is trying a different path.

Sussan Ley is not the arbiter of grief or mourning, and she does not get to decide how people express that mourning and that grief. And I thought, as I said, it said more about Sussan Ley than it does about Penny Wong …

Sussan Ley, I think, needs to reflect on her behaviour yesterday. It was pretty disgusting. And I think as it shows, that she is choosing to make political points out of an issue and a personal attack on someone like Penny Wong, I think, will jar pretty badly with Australians.

Updated at 16.01 EST

Bowen ‘guarantees’ gas reservation policy will lower prices

The climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, has said he can “guarantee” the “historic” gas policy changes yesterday – that will require the country’s three major LNG companies to set aside as much as a quarter of their gas for domestic use – will reduce prices.

Speaking the ABC RN this morning, Bowen said:

Australia is one of the world’s largest gas producers and exporters, as you indicated. And yet, we have forecast shortages and have had for 20 years forecast shortages, and it doesn’t make any sense. Now, the policy that we announced yesterday, our preferred model, slightly oversupplies the Australian market, which is our best way of putting downward pressure on prices.

Now, gas prices will be always determined by a range of fundamental factors: the cost of extraction, the gas in the Bass Strait, which is very cheap, gas, is running out. There’s only 12% of it left. We’ve been exploiting that since the 1960s, and there’s only 12% left to exploit in Queensland. In Northern Territory, it is much more expensive to get out of the ground and to move around the country. These are fundamental factors, but nevertheless, the levers the federal government has are designed to put downward pressure on prices, and we pulled that lever yesterday …

I can guarantee it will address shortages, and I can guarantee it’s the best way we have of putting downward pressure on prices as much as possible. Obviously, prices are an element of supply and demand. If you increase supply domestically, you’re putting downward pressure on prices.

You can read more on the gas reservation policy here:

Updated at 15.59 EST

ABC defends Tingle and Ferguson over Bondi attack coverage

The ABC’s managing director, Hugh Marks, has defended two of the network’s best-known journalists, Laura Tingle and Sarah Ferguson, following criticism of their coverage of the Bondi terror attacks.

In a statement released on Monday night, Marks said the terror attack was “a shocking and traumatic event for Australia and especially for the Jewish community” and extended to the Jewish community “our deepest sympathy”.

But he said criticism of those reporters was “unfounded”.

Last Tuesday the ABC’s Politics Now podcast, hosted by Patricia Karvelas alongside Global Affairs Editor Laura Tingle, sought to tackle some of the issues that had emerged in the national conversation in the wake of the Bondi attack. Journalist Laura Tingle has since been criticised for one comment made in the podcast that was about separating religion from radicalisation. Her analysis and the program in no way sought to minimise the terrorist nature of these horrific events, or the needs for Australia to combat antisemitism, or the rights of Jewish people to feel safe.

Sarah Ferguson was criticised for an interview she conducted with Josh Frydenberg on 7.30 on Wednesday 17 December. Mr Frydenberg had previously made comments which sought to lay blame for the horrific attacks directly on the Prime Minister. Sarah’s interview included a question on his potential return to politics which was a legitimate question for a journalist to put to him.

The ABC has reviewed both comments and the programs in question and believes that the criticisms made are unfounded.

ABC managing director Hugh Marks. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare

Updated at 15.58 EST

Australia news live: activist groups to challenge NSW protest laws; Minns wanting to ban chant ‘might make it popular’, organiser says | Australia news

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