New NSW Hate Crimes and Antiprotest Laws Are “Downright Dangerous to Our Democracy”

By last Friday, 21 February 2025, the NSW Minns government had passed a package of three law-and-order bills, responding to the “recent instances of antisemitic behaviour” that have comprised of multiple graffiti and arson attacks in the Greater Sydney region, and despite these laws purporting to target criminal elements, the rights-eroding nature of them impacts us all.

This type of kneejerk lawmaking that Labor has progressed to counter anti-Israel and antisemitic crime, has become a signature of the NSW governing duopoly, and while these laws may not impact the current spate of lawbreaking, they will ensure a further tightening of constituent freedoms, in much the same way as the terrorism offence enacting frenzy of the last two decades have.

The trio of tough-on-antisemitic-crime bills have now made it possible for NSW police officers to move-on demonstrators who are protesting merely ‘near’ a place of worship, it’s enacted a loosely worded incitement of racial hatred criminal offence, and it’s heightened penalties for graffitiing religious buildings.

In the wake of the three bills passing, NSW Greens MLC Sue Higginson warned last Friday that there was “no evidence to support” the assertion made by NSW premier Chris Minns that heightened criminalisation around hate speech was necessary, yet despite this he has “rammed and bullied these changes” through his own party, as well as NSW parliament.

Taken together, these three pieces of legislation that will apparently serve to eliminate a questionably-motivated “antisemitic” crimewave, mark a further erosion of the implied freedom of political communication in this state, at a time when the government prefers that the public stay mum in response to multiple rising crises.

Tacked on for good measure

The third piece of legislation rounding out the Minns antisemitic crime response package, the Crimes Amendment (Inciting Racial Hatred) Bill 2025, was unexpectedly tabled on 18 February, a week after the introduction of the Crimes Amendment (Places of Worship) Bill 2025 and the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Racial and Religious Hatred) Bill 2025.

“The introduction of the third Crimes Act Amendment on 18 February was exceptional and widely criticised by backbench members of the Labor party, as well as the opposition and crossbench,” Higginson told Sydney Criminal Lawyers.

“This bill came out of nowhere,” recalled the NSW Green justice spokesperson, “and by the time parliament sat on Tuesday afternoon, the government was ready to force the parliament to debate it, without any chance for nongovernment members to read or consult on the new offence it contained.”

The bill has inserted the new offence of publicly inciting hatred on grounds of race by public act into new section 93ZAA of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), which carries up to 2 years in prison and/or an $11,000 fine for individuals, while a $55,000 fine applies to offending organisations.

“The new offence of inciting hate on the basis of race, contains poorly defined terms, will not clearly reduce the likelihood of offending, and has a specific exemption for people who use religious texts to incite hatred based on a person’s race,” Higginson made certain.

The NSW Greens MLC further emphasised that the Minns government-commissioned NSW Law Reform Commission Serious Racial and Religious Vilification review report, released in September 2024, recommended no reform of NSW hate crime laws, while the commission is yet to report back on its antidiscrimination law review.

“The bill is one of the most poorly written and clearly politically motivated pieces of legislation that I have ever seen,” Higginson assured.

“I am still shocked that the government thought this bill suitable to be introduced, and then to morally bully the parliament into passing the laws without any scrutiny or due process.”

Enacting crime upon crime

The Places of Worship Bill and the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill were the first pieces of legislation introduced into NSW parliament this year.

The bills that have passed have seen the creation of the new aggravated offences of publicly displaying a Nazi symbol on or near a synagogue and that of graffitiing a place of worship, along with the new offence of protesting near a place of worship and they further provided police with the new power to move on protesters demonstrating near a place of worship.

According to Higginson, just like the Inciting Racial Hatred Bill, the two other pieces of legislation “are a complete mess that largely duplicate existing offences and will hand more poorly defined excessive powers to the police when it comes to crushing dissent and political communication in NSW”.

In terms of the display of Nazi symbols on or near synagogues, the Greens member outlines that this measure simply criminalises an act that was already unlawful, and she added that the additional graffitiing of places of worship crime, which is an aggravated offence, does not require any proof of intent to deface a religious building.

“Considering the incredible social benefit that graffiti can bring, and it’s role over millennia as a form of public and political expression, this change is another draconian law to add to the list that premier Chris Minns and NSW Labor have brought in,” the progressive politician said as an aside.

The prohibition on protesting ‘near’ places of worship, contrary to new section 214B of the Crimes Act, comprises yet another plank in the 2022-established NSW antiprotest regime, and the just enacted new offence continues to carry the signature penalties that apply to all of these antiprotest laws, which see those liable facing up to 2 years inside and/or a $22,000 fine.

Higginson considers this law is “downright dangerous to our democracy”, as well as an example of an “unreasonable and poorly defined expansion of the antiprotest laws”, as its wording provides no clear limits as to what being “near a place of worship” means, leaving it up to individual NSW police officers to make it up as they go.

“We know that the application of these antiprotest powers and offences target First Nations people, environment and climate advocates and other legitimate protest activities,” the former public interest environmental lawyer added.

“The chilling effect of these laws on legitimate and necessary protest will be profound, and result in unnecessary protection from scrutiny for some of the most politically influential religious organisations in NSW,” she underscored.

Cracks in the duopoly

The 2022 antiprotest regime laws cracked down on unauthorised protests obstructing major roads, tunnels and bridges across the Greater Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle regions, along with those that block major facilities, and it’s been described as the most draconian set of antiprotest laws on the planet.

Yet, despite their nature, these laws have since been mimicked in other Australian jurisdictions.

The campaign against these laws has been strong, as it has seen the unions join climate defenders and civil liberties advocates in opposition to the overreach that the measures entail at threat of debilitating penalties. However, after a yearslong campaign to see them revoked, the laws still stand.

In response to a question about whether the state of NSW should simply get used to the new climate of repression, Higginson remarked that “the monopoly over our parliamentary democracy by Labor and the Coalition is cracking at the corners, as third parties and independents are increasingly showing the old parties that their time of dictating policy will not last’’.

“This is something that gives me real hope,” the Greens member stressed, “that the suppression of protest in NSW, orchestrated by Labor and the Coalition, will be wound back when we can reach a critical mass of true democratic representation in the halls of parliament.”

As for the campaign against the antiprotest regime, Higginson said it should continue to call for its revocation, as Minn’s “doubling down on draconian police state legislation” is causing division amongst the ranks of NSW Labor. And she added that these laws are setting the stage for nascent NSW dictators, and if some kind of comprise is not forthcoming, dissent is only set to increase.

“This is why we moved in excess of forty amendments to these newest bills, notwithstanding the government forcing the parliament to sit until 4 in the morning. We may have lost the vote, but we won the debate,” Higginson continued.

“We did secure one really important amendment, the new inciting hatred laws will be subject to a public review in 12 months, and they have a three-year sunset clause,” the Greens MLC said in conclusion.

“We will not give up, we will not stop resisting, and it is the power and the strength of the community and civil society with us that gives me confidence that we can move the dial back from the edge of authoritarianism in NSW.”