NSW Police taking organisers of Sydney Black Lives Matter protest to Supreme Court
NSW Police will take the organisers of a protest scheduled for Saturday afternoon to the Supreme Court, after its expected numbers swelled in the time since being given approval.
Addressing the media on Friday afternoon, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said it "never was and never will be" the state's intention to allow thousands of people to be "flagrantly disregarding the [state's] health orders".
Premier Gladys Berejiklian.Credit:Louie Douvis
"Today, NSW has been very successful only because all of us have taken the hard yards, of making those difficult decisions," she said.
"We've not visited family or attended events, we've not done what we normally to do keep the community safe."
Ms Berejiklian denied she "gave the green light" to the protest but said that when the organisers first presented their event to NSW Police it seemed much smaller, and closer in size to Tuesday night's protest.
"As of this morning, that had escalated to a potentially 10,000 protesters turning up and the organiser, himself, admitted that he couldn't ensure that the protesters could adhere to [social distancing]," said Commissioner Mick Fuller.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the current health orders in the state specified that no more than 500 people could be present in a public space, gathering in groups of 10.
The Premier said the protest was now "an illegal protest".
It comes just hours after a number of NSW Ministers criticised their own government’s decision to initially allow the protest to go ahead.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said on Friday morning the fact it was going ahead was “indefensible” and “ridiculous”.
“When people are making enormous sacrifices right now, I think situations like this and protests like this on the weekend clearly shouldn’t go ahead,” Mr Perrottet told 2GB on Friday morning.
“You can’t defend the indefensible, I think it’s ridiculous.”
Police Minister David Elliott also voiced his concern over the protest, and warned that anyone who “plays up” during the planned rally would face the “full force” of the law.
“Not all politicians approve of it but there’s nothing we can do to oppose it,” he said.
“These sort of people that [sic] are going to protest during pandemics don’t think like you and I, they’re not normal.”
More to come