The NSW parliament is being recalled on Monday to address legislative changes in response to Sunday’s terrorist attack at Bondi Beach, which saw 15 people killed in a shooting targeting the Jewish community.
The government will seek to outlaw the public display of “terrorist symbols” such as the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group flag, and give police more powers to require someone suspected of committing an offence during a public assembly to remove their face covering.
The laws will carry penalties of up to two years’ imprisonment or a $22,000 fine for any individual publicly displaying terrorist symbols. For organisations, the fine will be up to $110,000.
Under current laws, face coverings only have to be removed for police to confirm someone’s identity post-arrest. The new restrictions would mean the threshold would be lowered to include all suspects.
Minns said the chant ‘globalise the intifada’ would also be banned, saying “horrific recent events” had shown that the phrase “is hate speech and it encourages violence in our community”.
They know, and don’t care. It’s mostly security theatre, with a a dash of of Zionism for flavour.