‘Deeply disappointed that a single judge granted approval to the march’

I am currently overseas but, like the rest of our community, I have been closely monitoring and engaging with the concerning international and local developments this week.

The push to prematurely recognise a Palestinian state (which Hamas has claimed as “one of the fruits of October 7” and has led it to withdraw from ceasefire negotiations) and the tidal wave of media coverage and criticism of Israel in relation to the provision of aid into Gaza are worthy of separate analysis but for now I wanted to focus on today’s march across the Harbour Bridge.

Please know that since first becoming aware of the proposed march at the beginning of the week, we have engaged at the highest levels to make our community’s concerns about the location of this protest well known. We welcome the fact that the State Government and NSW Police opposed this demonstration and all of our messaging and activities over the past few days have been geared to supporting their efforts. Despite this, we are surprised and deeply disappointed that a single judge of the Supreme Court yesterday granted approval to the march.

There is no question that allowing this protest to take place on the Harbour Bridge, and effectively paralyse our city, sets a very troubling precedent. At a time of already-strained social cohesion, an iconic Australian symbol and key arterial road should not be used to bring a divisive foreign conflict onto our streets.

Moreover, protest organisers have already threatened to “take the Harbour Bridge again” which demonstrates once again that these groups cannot be satisfied or appeased. Even if Australia were to recognise a Palestinian state as the Federal Government plans to, it would not be enough and they would quickly move on to their next demand.