Organisers abandon plans to hold pro-Palestine vigil in Sydney on 7 October
The hearing has now resumed in the NSW supreme court.
Arjun Chhabra, representing the organisers, said part of the amended form 1 proposal included beginning the 6 October protest at Hyde Park, rather than Town Hall.
He said organisers have abandoned their plans to hold a pro-Palestine vigil on Monday 7 October.
Key events
The court has adjourned for another ten minutes.
The hearing has now resumed in the NSW supreme court.
Arjun Chhabra, representing the organisers, said part of the amended form 1 proposal included beginning the 6 October protest at Hyde Park, rather than Town Hall.
He said organisers have abandoned their plans to hold a pro-Palestine vigil on Monday 7 October.
Parties hoping resolution on Sunday’s protest can be reached outside court
In the NSW supreme court, senior counsel Lachlan Gyles – representing the police – said there has been a proposal for an “alternative manner of operation” for Sunday’s event, and parties wish to discuss whether a resolution may be able to be reached.
Arjun Chhabra, representing the defendants, requested 15 minutes to discuss this.
Justice Jeremy Kirk said the choice he had was “binary” – either he makes a prohibition order or he does not.
He recognised that there were “legitimate and weighty concerns on both sides” and having some discussion was “sensible”, granting a 15-minute adjournment.
Court will return at 2.20pm.
Supreme court hearing begins
The hearing has begun at the NSW supreme court into two events planned for 6 and 7 October, which the NSW police are attempting to prevent.
A pro-Palestine rally is planned for Sunday, and a candlelight vigil for Monday, which is a public holiday in NSW.
As Mostafa Rachwani reported yesterday, Sydney police told organisers they had safety concerns over the expected crowd size and potential hazards at Town Hall including “the recent addition of over a dozen planter boxes”.
But protest organisers have said the move to block events from going ahead was “a political attack on our right to protest” – and said pointing to the planter boxes was an “obvious red herring”.
We’ll bring you the latest as the hearing continues.
Mostafa Rachwani A crowd of pro-Palestine protesters have gathered outside the NSW supreme court, with the hearing into NSW police’s attempt to block the protest this weekend due at 2pm.
People have arrived with banners and flags to show their support for the cause and to protest against the police submission to have the rallies organised for 6 and 7 October cancelled.
Chants of “Free, free Palestine” and “Hands off Lebanon” have started around the entrance to court. A traditional tablah drum has begun ringing out across the square, in time with the chanting.
A strong police presence surrounds the entry to court, with members of the Palestine Action Group, the organisers of the rallies, due to arrive soon.
Hybrid vehicles in fast lane as petrol cars slow down
Motorists are putting the brakes on new vehicle purchases, with sales of petrol, diesel and electric cars slowing down significantly in Australia.
But as AAP reports, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicle sales continue to accelerate despite the downturn, and large vehicles remain the most popular models for consumers.
Figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries show petrol vehicle sales fell 17.5% during the month, diesel vehicles were down 12.3%, but hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles bucked the trend.
Motorists bought more than 13,500 hybrid vehicles in September – a 34.4% rise compared to the same period in 2023 – and more than 2400 plug-in hybrid cars, representing a rise of 89.9%.
A hybrid vehicle, the Toyota RAV4, also claimed the title of Australia’s bestselling vehicle for September, followed by Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux utes.
Electric vehicles did not fare as well as their low-emission cohorts during the month. Combined sales figures from the FCAI and the Electric Vehicle Council showed Australians bought more than 6,400 EVs during the month, down 27%, which represented 6.6% of all new vehicle sales.
Catie McLeod Minns defends decision to attend vigil with Jewish community on 7 October
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has defended his decision to attend a candlelight vigil on 7 October to show solidarity with the Jewish community, while insisting a vigil for Palestine planned for the same night should not go ahead.
At his press conference earlier, Minns said he would go to the vigil with the Jewish community and that “some” Muslim leaders “may expect me” to attend.
So the suggestion that me attending a rally for the Jewish community would somehow upset the sensibilities of the Muslim community – there were many Muslim leaders in NSW that issued a public condemnation of that terrorist activity on that day, who were concerned about it [and] saw it as a crime, and offered sympathy and solidarity with the Jewish community in Sydney as a result. So some of them may expect me to be there.
Minns said the organisers of the pro-Palestine and Lebanon vigil planned for Monday night had said in submitting the paperwork required to lawfully hold the gathering that they were expecting 200 people to attend.
But he said a “reasonable person would suggest” it was “unlikely” that only 200 people would go, and there was “genuine police scepticism” that the event could be contained.
Twelve months ago in Sydney, there was meant to be a vigil in the days following the October 7 terrorist attacks, this is prior to Israeli activity in Gaza. It ended up being an unlawful march through the streets and a major protest – some would term it violent protest – on the steps of the Opera House.
I think that would cause huge harm to social harmony in NSW and it’s reasonable for the government and the police to try and prevent those scenes being repeated.
More than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, died on 7 October. More than 41,000 people have been killed in Gaza, mostly civilians, one in 55 of the prewar population. More than 700 people have died in Lebanon in the recent wave of Israeli attacks.
The lord mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, has said “shutting down protests is not the answer” and has called for protests in Sydney to be allowed to go ahead.
A pro-Palestine rally is scheduled for Sunday and a candlelight vigil for Monday, but the NSW police have brought a case to the supreme court to try to block these. The hearing kicks off at 2pm, in about half an hour.
In a statement, Moore said:
We don’t approve or facilitate protests or rallies in our LGA – NSW Police are responsible for permits and ensuring safe management – but we stand ready to help. If we’re required to move planter boxes to ensure safety, for example, we will.
The community has been gathering, peacefully, every week for the past year. I know that larger crowds are expected this weekend, but I am hopeful that the Police permit and support the community to do so once again.
The statement comes as an open letter has been signed by 42 human rights groups and community organisations, calling on the NSW police commissioner to facilitate the protests.
Signatories include the Human Rights Law Centre, Community Legal Centres NSW, Amnesty International Australia, NSW Council for Civil Liberties, and Jewish Council of Australia.
Aussie women say they’re not educated on contraception
The vast majority of Australian women fear they have insufficient education on contraception despite more than two-thirds opting to use some form of birth control, AAP reports.
The fresh insight has been released by assistant minister for health and aged care, Ged Kearney, in the new national Contraceptive Choice 2024 survey.
Of the more than 1,000 Australian women aged 18 to 45 questioned, 34% said they were not using any form of contraception.
Seventy per cent said they believed they did not have correct or enough education on contraception and 32% of those under 24 regularly experienced anxiety about their current method.
In the survey, 36% of women said they had experienced a pregnancy scare and 42% said they had taken emergency contraception.
Among the barriers for women in trying a new method, 42% cited side effects while 21% were worried about costs and the time needed to switch methods. A separate 17% said they didn’t know enough to make informed decisions about new options.
Acclaimed pianist Jayson Gillham has filed legal proceedings against the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in the federal court.
Gillham, whose performance with the MSO was cancelled after a dedication on stage to Palestinian journalists who had died in the Gaza conflict, alleged that he was “silenced for speaking the truth – that Israel targets journalists”.
In a statement regarding the legal action, Gillham said:
This situation goes beyond just artistic freedom; it strikes at the heart of our right to free speech and the role of art in addressing important social issues. The MSO’s extreme reaction to factual statements highlights a disturbing trend of silencing voices that speak to uncomfortable truths.
The pianist argues that MSO’s actions constitute direct discrimination based on political belief, violating his human and workplace rights protected by the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Victoria) and Fair Work Act 2009 (Commonwealth).
Gillham said he was compelled to pursue legal action “after the MSO rejected reasonable requests to remedy the situation”. He said:
This battle is about ensuring that artists can perform with integrity and without fear of censorship or reprisal. More broadly, it’s about defending everyone’s right to express opinions on important issues without being silenced.
The MSO has been contacted for comment.
Catie McLeod Returning to the press conference Chris Minns held earlier today, the NSW premier claimed that stopping the pro-Palestine and Lebanon rally planned for Sunday could protect Sydney’s “critical infrastructure”.
When a journalist put to Minns that the police wouldn’t be able to stop people from congregating en masse in Sydney’s CBD if they chose to go ahead with the protest, the premier said he “wouldn’t make that claim”.
I’m not going to go through chapter and verse what police tactics will be. But it does give the police the power to ensure that a mobile protest doesn’t take place through Sydney streets as it would be an unauthorised march.
And that may be important in protecting critical infrastructure for the city, or ensuring that we don’t have an unfortunate conflict on Sydney’s streets.
NSW police have vowed to stop a protest planned for Sunday 6 October and a candlelight vigil scheduled for Monday 7 October from going ahead.
Two peregrine falcon chicks hatch at Collins Street skyscraper in Melbourne
Two peregrine falcon chicks have hatched in Melbourne, witnessed by all who watch the iconic Collins Street live feed.
The two chicks hatched early this morning, as observed on the live feed. The mother is currently huddling over her chicks, dutifully waiting for a third to hatch.
Peregrine falcons have treated a ledge on top of 367 Collins Street as home for more than three decades, but cameras made them a social media phenomenon. The cameras were turned back on in August for the new breeding season, as the first egg was laid.
As Adeshola Ore reported, last year’s eggs were unable to hatch after the female stopped incubating, likely due to a territorial dispute – but there was high hopes for this season.
You can follow along with the livestream here, or read more about the yearly tradition below:
Australians in Lebanon facing difficult decisions as authorities urge them to leave
Australians are being urged to leave Lebanon and take up offers of more than 500 extra commercial airline seats, but for some families, it’s not that simple.
AAP has spoken with one Lebanese Australian, who wished to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, who described the heartbreak and emotional toll of worrying about her relatives.
Both sides of her family are from Lebanon, with three generations living across Beirut and the nation’s north. Thankfully, those in the mountainous north are safe, she says, but a full-scale invasion could change this.
“Those in Beirut are going hour by hour, day by day,” she told AAP through tears, saying the airstrikes were not in their areas, but they could hear the constant explosions.
Some of our relatives are elderly and frail and won’t be able to leave. No one in my family would travel out here and leave their mothers, their fathers, their cousins, their aunts, the elderly.
Her family would “move heaven and earth” to evacuate elderly people to the northern village they’re from, but this may not be feasible even in the worst-case scenario due to the 24-hour care requirement they’re receiving in Beirut, she said.
Qantas freight workers will be almost $7,000 a year better off thanks to a deal struck by the Australian Services Union (ASU) which would see the wages of Australian Air Express workers lifted to match those of their Qantas Freight counterparts.
ASU national secretary Emeline Gaske said the deal was another win for the union’s “same job, same pay” campaign:
Workers at Australian Air Express, a wholly owned Qantas subsidiary, work alongside their colleagues at Qantas Freight doing identical work every day.
Yet those working for Australia Air Express have been receiving significantly lower wages than their counterparts at Qantas.
For far too long, employment loopholes like these have been exploited by unscrupulous employers to short-change workers, and it’s time these dodgy arrangements ended.
Queensland police have faced questions on 4BC Radio about the naming of a man by Chinese media outlets as someone who allegedly poured hot coffee on a baby in Brisbane.
A warrant was previously issued for the arrest of a 33-year-old foreign national, accused of the alleged attack at Hanlon Park in Stones Corner on 27 August.
QPS acting assistant commissioner Andrew Massingham was asked about the Chinese media outlets reports, and said the international search is continuing.
Sometimes these posts can be a distraction to what we’re attempting to achieve, but that search will continue until we locate that person.
Asked if the reports would affect the investigation, Massingham responded:
Those things always need to remain confidential up until the time we go public with the information.
In a statement, Queensland police said they were “unable to provide any further information or context around this investigation at this time”.
Here’s some more details from Peter Hannam on the latest International Monetary Fund assessment report, which said extra government spending could inject “additional stimulus” into the Australian economy and risk the RBA having to lift interest rates:
Andrew Messenger LNP leader makes health announcement as Labor premier forgets candidates’ name
Queensland premier Steven Miles and opponent David Crisafulli have spent another day in the regions.
Miles made a major gaffe in Mirani, near Rockhampton, when he forgot the name of the local Labor candidate, Susan Teder.
The Labor leader held press conferences yesterday and today in the Katter’s Australian party-held electorate without her. Miles said he would “find out” where she was, before being prompted by deputy leader Cameron Dick.
Meanwhile, LNP leader David Crisafulli stayed in the Rockhampton area for the second day straight, where he made a youth mental health commitment.
Crisafulli said he would spend $50m building two new step-up step-down clinics, one of them in central Queensland:
The reason why is there’s currently no facilities for young people between Cairns and Brisbane that’s a very, very big area, and to have a dedicated one in Rockhampton is a big step forward in acknowledging how serious the challenges are and how vast that distance is, and also the pressures that the Rockhampton hospital is under.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has said the candlelight vigil scheduled for 7 October in Sydney should not go ahead. Speaking to reporters earlier, he said:
We remain committed to the idea that holding a protest on Monday – which is obviously the anniversary of October 7, which was a devastating terrorist attack on Israel and has had huge ramifications for those who live in Sydney who are concerned about family, friends and community members in that part of the world – is not the right thing to do.
[It’s] hugely unsympathetic to those who are going through pain at the moment and not in keeping or in recognition of the fact that, yes, there’s have been protests taking place in Sydney, but surely one of the other 364 days of the year would be more appropriate.
It’s worth noting that a protest is planned for Sunday 6 October and a candlelight vigil is scheduled for Monday 7 October.
Josh Lees, a member of the Palestine Action Group Sydney, told ABC RN earlier today that the vigil was “mainly about the chance for Palestinian and Lebanese people to come and grieve for the thousands of people who have died”.
More than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, died on 7 October. More than 41,000 people have been killed in Gaza, mostly civilians, one in 55 of the prewar population. More than 700 people have died in Lebanon in the recent wave of Israeli attacks.
Organisers abandon plans to hold pro-Palestine vigil in Sydney on 7 October
Protesters gather outside NSW supreme court ahead of hearing
Sydney mayor calls for pro-Palestine protest to be allowed to go ahead
Pianist whose concert was cancelled following Gaza comments files legal proceedings against MSO
Minns says stopping pro-Palestine and Lebanon protest important to protect ‘critical infrastructure’
Air freight workers secure pay deal in win for union’s ‘same job, same pay’ push
Chinese media outlets name man they claim is suspected of pouring hot coffee on baby in Brisbane
NSW premier says protest on 7 October ‘not the right thing to do’
