EDITORIAL: Government must stand firm against protest violence
EDITORIAL: Many protesters had gone to Sydney Town Hall on Monday looking for confrontation. They found it.
They took to the streets of central Sydney to make a point. And they did.
But it might not be the one they thought they were making about the Australian visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Many had gone to Sydney Town Hall on Monday looking for confrontation. They found it.
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The mob repeatedly challenged police tasked with trying to maintain order — conscious as they were of the need to keep protesters separated from Jewish mourners leaving an event with Mr Herzog nearby.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said protesters were deliberately provocative and he defended police, who he said had faced an “impossible situation”.
“You have to understand that you can’t judge the riotous situation last night on a ten second clip,” Mr Minns said. “Police lines were repeatedly breached or attempted to be breached.
“(Protesters) were determined to have a conflict with police. Unfortunately that’s what ended up happening,” Mr Minns said.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Layon said protest speakers had incited the crowd to march and officers “showed remarkable restraint”.
Police Association of NSW president Kevin Morton said some “were people just hellbent on causing a reaction and creating chaos”.
NSW Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna said officers were assaulted during what he described as “rolling fights”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “devastated” by the clashes.
“These are scenes that I think shouldn’t be taking place. People should be able to express their views peacefully, but the police were very clear about the routes that were required if people wanted to march, to go a particular route, and to ensure that this was done peacefully,” he said.
“The causes are not advanced by these sorts of scenes, indeed, they’re undermined.”
Mr Albanese urged the Greens to dial down the heat surrounding Mr Herzog’s visit.
Resources Minister Madeleine King slammed the violent protest as a “division imported from overseas” and Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek urged calm and reflection on the reason for Mr Herzog’s visit — the murder of 15 people at Bondi Beach.
Calming down would be the minimum required.
There is rag-tag band of regular protesters who make it their mission to find an issue to oppose and then create chaos around it. And then move on to another issue.
The depth of their ridiculousness was the hysterical call comparing the police response to the violent protest to an “ICE operation in the United States”.
What they overlook is that when they get physical with a police officer they cannot expect to go without a response.
The police and Government must stand firm. The anger and hate on display in Sydney on Monday is as far removed from middle Australia as Gadigal is from Gaza.
