In the wake of the horrific Bondi attack—when two ISIS‑inspired gunmen targeted members of the Jewish community at a Hanukkah celebration near Bondi Beach’s Archer Park in Sydney on 14 December 2025—the NSW Government, eager to signal both its outrage and control of the situation, rushed “emergency legislation” through Parliament.
While many have raised serious concerns that the government is blatantly politicising a national tragedy to erode fundamental civil liberties and limit avenues for accountability, the NSW Government, in the words of the people it would characterise as “the misguided Greens voters”, has been quick to emphasise that, given the perpetrators’ antisemitic leanings, it is “not above weaponising mass hysteria to condemn detractors as antisemites and Islamist terrorist sympathisers.”
In an opinion piece published shortly after the legislation was passed—receiving wide acclaim among the Sky News audience—former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison observed:
“Waiting until the nation’s tears had dried before passing monumental legislation of this sort would only have inconvenienced politicians, journalists and busybody citizens with unnecessary debate on a heavy subject, against the backdrop of deeply disconcerting issues. They spared everyone the trouble.”
The new laws grant police expanded powers to refuse authorisation for protests for up to three months following a declared terrorist incident. They allow authorities to suspend the usual protest‑authorisation process, which ordinarily provides demonstrators with protections against charges related to traffic disruption and public‑order offences.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog is visiting Australia as an official guest of the federal Labor government for a five‑day tour commencing on 9 February 2026. Many pro‑Palestinian groups view Herzog as directly implicated in the Gaza war—both for public comments suggesting there were “no innocent civilians” in Gaza and for symbolically signing bombs later dropped on the enclave—actions that a UN commission of inquiry cited in finding that he had incited genocide.
Ahead of Herzog’s visit, the NSW Police Commissioner has repeatedly invoked these emergency powers to maintain a blanket restriction on protests, formally blocking authorisation for large demonstrations and thereby removing the standard legal protections usually afforded to participants.
This legal regime is now being challenged in court by a coalition of pro‑Palestinian and First Nations organisations, which argue that it unconstitutionally burdens the implied freedom of political communication.
On Saturday, 7 February 2026, Minns declared Herzog’s visit a “major event”, activating additional special police powers and extensive security measures across central Sydney.
NSW Police have warned that those attending an unauthorised march from Sydney Town Hall to Parliament House to protest Herzog’s visit could be arrested if they breach imposed restrictions.
In a further dramatic twist, leaked correspondence between Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minns indicates that Minns played a key role in orchestrating Herzog’s visit.
“We are about to pass some seriously tyrannical laws that will give my government unprecedented powers to suppress protests, and I am dying to try them out. Could you arrange a visit from a controversial foreign leader so I can test them?” Minns reportedly wrote to Albanese at 4:19 pm on 20 December 2025.
“You’ve been watching too much Trump on the news, mate!
“How about Herzog? Since the Bondi attack, Bibi fucking Netanyahu has been attacking me relentlessly. The prick couldn’t be more thrilled about the opportunity. I’m just waiting for the day when he finally blurts out that God sent the terrorists to prove how I allowed antisemitism to flourish in Australia by being one of the last world leaders to stop endorsing his bloodlust.
“I’d rather have him here, if nothing else, to enforce the outstanding UN arrest warrant against him—if there were any chance he would come. But inviting Herzog would at least get him off my back,” Albanese is recorded as replying to Minns at 9:27 am the next day.
“The new laws will be some powerful shit, and Herzog is the perfect guinea pig. This will be my time to pull off a Trump. Who knows—soon you will be kissing my ring.
I owe you one, mate,” Minns is said to have written back half an hour later.
Albanese announced Herzog’s visit to Australia on 23 December 2025.
To quell mounting public outrage over the leaked correspondence, Albanese and Minns issued a joint statement condemning “anti‑Jewish elements” who were allegedly seeking to “exploit the story, so soon after the tragic Bondi massacre, to sow public dissent and undermine social cohesion in Australia.”
