Court win for pro-Palestinian rally on Sydney Harbour Bridge
NSW Supreme Court Justice Belinda Rigg rejected a police application to shut down the Sunday march on public safety grounds.
Thousands of protesters are expected at the demonstration to highlight what the United Nations has described as "worsening famine conditions" in Gaza.
Organised by the Palestinian Action Group Sydney, the protest has garnered support from activists nationwide, human rights and civil liberties groups as well as several MPs and public figures such as former Socceroo Craig Foster.
Arguments were presented to the court on Friday, and Justice Rigg chose to reserve her decision until Saturday morning.
In her judgment, she refused the police commissioner's application, saying arguments the rally would cause disruption on the bridge were not sufficient to bar the protest.
"It is in the very nature of the entitlement to peaceful protest that disruption will be caused to others," she said.
Justice Rigg noted there was significant support for the march from hundreds of organisations including Amnesty International, various churches, the Jewish Council of Australia, the nurses and midwives association and other trade unions.
The decision means protesters will have certain legal immunity and protections from offences like blocking or obstructing traffic or pedestrians.
The decision was a win for humanity and a defeat of the "anti-protest Minns Labor government", NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson said.
"The court was crystal clear that a protest being inconvenient does not mean it can be stopped. In fact, that's the whole point of the protest," she said.
Ms Higginson said people had the absolute right to protest "whether police want them to and whether the premier wants them to or not, and tomorrow our iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and our humanity will speak to the world".
Protesters are expected to march from the CBD, across the bridge to North Sydney.
In solidarity with their interstate peers, protesters in Melbourne are gearing up to rally through the city's CBD, aiming to reach the King Street Bridge.
Meanwhile, more than 60 per cent of Australians want tougher government measures to stop Israel's military offensive in Gaza, a poll has found.
Respondents to the YouGov survey published on Friday and commissioned by the Australian Alliance for Peace and Human Rights believe Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's condemnations of Israel have fallen short.
"While the government has recently signed a statement calling for an immediate ceasefire, 61 per cent of Australians believe this is not enough," the alliance said.
"(Australians) want to see concrete economic, diplomatic and legal measures implemented."
The poll surveyed 1507 Australian voters in the last week of July, coinciding with a deteriorating starvation crisis due to the Israeli government blocking aid from entering Gaza and while diplomatic efforts from countries such as Canada have ramped up.
The results highlighted how the nearly two-year-long war on Gaza had resonated with Australians, YouGov director of public data Paul Smith said.
More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed including more than 17,000 children, according to local health authorities, with reports of dozens of people dead in recent weeks due to starvation.
Israel's campaign began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, reportedly killing 1200 people and taking 250 hostages.
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