Sydney Harbour Bridge protest: Organisers agree to new route for anti-establishment demonstration
Anti-establishment protesters linked to anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists and sovereign citizens will no longer try to march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
NSW Police said they had received an application for a planned protest beginning in North Sydney and crossing the Harbour Bridge to Hyde Park on September 13.
Police then filed a case in the Supreme Court against organiser Mary-Jane Liddicoat, who ran for the Senate at the 2025 federal election, with a hearing originally scheduled for Monday afternoon.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.But on Monday, police said: “NSW Police and event organisers have reached an agreement for an alternative route that will not block the Sydney Harbour Bridge ahead of this weekend’s public assembly.”
The route will now start in Hyde Park and progress through Sydney’s CBD, police said.
As a result, police have formally withdrawn their filing to the Supreme Court.
Justice Peter Garling said there was some confusion, as the court had received two “diametrically opposed emails” from Ms Liddicoat on Friday evening, claiming she had not had the opportunity to seek legal advice and that she felt “completely ambushed”.
“What is the truth? Did you know the matter was fixed for today and you had a lawyer or did you not know what the position was?” Justice Garling asked.
“I apologise for that confusion … the truth is I had not engaged a lawyer and I still have not engaged a lawyer,” Ms Liddicoat replied.
She said she had been working “co-operatively with the police” and was under the impression protesters would be able to march over the bridge, but she said he was “naive”, as police hadn’t “specifically said that they would take this to court”.
Lawyers for NSW Police told the court on Monday morning they believed an agreement was reached between police and Ms Liddicoat in which the group would no longer cross the Harbour Bridge but instead would march along the same route the Palestine Action Group took every weekend from Hyde Park.
The event was put together by an umbrella group known as Australia Unites Against Government Corruption.
The planned protest comes just weeks after the Supreme Court made an unprecedented ruling to allow pro-Palestinian protesters to march across the bridge on August 3.
Police said 90,000 protesters took part, while organisers said the number was closer to 300,000.
Originally published as Protesters agree to avoid Harbour Bridge in anti-establishment protest
