Australian news and politics live: Albanese ‘devastated’, Minns blasts protesters after violent clashes

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has repeatedly called for social cohesion following the Bondi Beach terror attack, says he is “devastated” by the scenes at the Sydney protests on Monday night.

“I’m devastated by it,” he told Triple M Hobart on Tuesday morning.

“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.

“The causes are not advanced by these sorts of scenes, indeed, they’re undermined.”

Mr Albanese said demonstrators should protest in “an appropriate way”.

“Now people will have different views about the Middle East, and we have been critical and have received some criticism from the Israeli Government,” he said.

“But we do need to be able to have people express any views peacefully in an appropriate way.”

The organisers of Sydney’s protest on Monday say heavy-handed police unleashed “violent repression” on protesters who demonstrated against Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia.

Around 6000 people gathered at Sydney’s Town Hall on Monday night, against police orders under extraordinary powers granted by the Government following the Bondi Beach terror attack.

“Instead of respecting the right of 50,000 people who turned up to express their outrage against our government celebrating someone accused of inciting genocide, the police resorted to unleashing unseen violent repression,” Palestine Action Group Sydney wrote in a social media post.

NSW Police say 29 people were arrested.

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NSW Premier Chris Minns says he can now reveal that the Government and NSW Police were attempting to avoid a clash between pro-Palestinian activists and Jewish Australian mourners on Monday.

“One of the things that we couldn’t reveal yesterday, but we can speak about today, is that there were 7000 Jewish mourners in the city at the same time that police were trying to keep separate from protest organisers,” Mr Minns told Sunrise on Tuesday.

The event that Mr Minns mentioned was held at the ICC in Darling Harbour, just 500 meters from Sydney’s Town Hall, and was attended by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. The closest train station to the ICC is Town Hall Station.

“If those two came together, and police allowed a breach of that line... Yeah, I appreciate the scenes on television didn’t look good, but it would have been far, far worse,” Mr Minns said.

“So yes, I support police in a very difficult set of circumstances. Of course, they were trying to keep the public safe, and the record shows they did everything possible to avoid these confrontations.”

On the day Israeli President Isaac Herzog arrived, an estimated 6000 people gathered in Sydney to protest his visit.

Confronting video of intense clashes between police and protesters has some questioning the actions of officers, while NSW Police have called out the “outrageous” behaviour of demonstrators.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has defended NSW Police after confronting videos from protests surfaced, saying that people should not “judge police simply on a 15-second clip being played on social media.

“The circumstances leading up to that confrontation are incredibly important,” Mr Minns told Sunrise on Tuesday.

Mr Minns said NSW Police and the NSW Government did “everything possible” to avoid a confrontation.

The Premier said “chaos” would have unfolded if protesters successfully breached NSW Police lines.

“The protest organisers repeatedly told police that it would be peaceful, that there would not be marches, that the crowd would disperse.

“Police had asked people to leave the area. The good news is most people did. But a group stayed behind that were intent on having a confrontation with police, and that is exactly what happened.”