Calls for Inquiry into NSW Hate Crimes Offences Justified by Fake Terror Plot

In the wake of revelations on 3 March 2025 that the spate of so-called antisemitic crimes perpetrated on Gadigal land in Greater Sydney over December 2024 and January 2025 were a “fabricated terrorism plot”, there are now mounting calls to hold a NSW Legislative Council inquiry into whether the passing of repressive criminal laws in response to them was done in bad faith.

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties is leading the calls, along with NSW Greens, as it’s being suggested that NSW premier Chris Minns and police minister Yasmin Catley were likely privy to the fact that state and federal police considered the “antisemitic” graffiti and arson attacks were part of an elaborate “criminal con job”, yet they proceeded to enact laws as if the crimes were legitimate.

AFP deputy commissioner Krissy Barrett outlined on Monday that her agency understood “almost immediately” following the 19 January 2025 discovery of a caravan laden with old explosives and an antisemitic note, that it was likely a staged crime, and NSW police deputy commissioner Dave Hudson went on to publicly flag the incident as such on 30 January 2025.

Yet, despite the premier having been given regular briefings on the investigation into the caravan every three days after it was found, and the growing understanding that the “antisemitic” crimewave was not motivated by prejudice towards Jewish people but rather, it was a desire to have the authorities believe this was the case, Labor continued on with its law-and-order agenda regardless.

Not only does this now raise questions about the legitimacy of the state continuing on with these laws on the books, but the NSW premier has since doubled down on the validity of the criminal measures even though they were in response to fake crimes, and he’s adding that the constituency continues to require these laws to ensure “social cohesion” against the threat of antisemitism.

“In response to horrifying antisemitism”

“In NSW, we will never harbour the poison of antisemitism. Antisemitism is… particularly sinister, shape-shifting in form, and the bigotry is widespread,” Minns told the NSW lower house on 11 February 2025, twelve days after Hudson had flagged to the community that none of the suspects arrested in relation to the so-called antisemitic crimes held any antisemitic ideological beliefs.

“So often, what has begun as hate speech against the Jewish people has led to violence, it has led to persecution, it’s led to murder, and it’s led to genocide,” the NSW premier continued, as he was issuing a “parliamentary statement on antisemitism” to announce tougher criminal laws to target antisemitism via two bills, and a third piece of responding legislation was introduced on 18 February 2025.

The antisemitic lawmaking bonanza Labor engaged in last month broke new grounds in terms of a synagogue-specific offence relating to the display of Nazi symbols near or on such buildings, creating the offence of making racist comments in public and criminalising protests held simply because they are “near” a place of worship, with an ability for police to move protesters on from such rallies. 

The 10 February law enforcement revelations involved the entire antisemitic crimewave in NSW being designed to provide criminal figures with a bargaining chip, involving tipping off the authorities about supposed planned antisemitic attacks, in order to garner penalty discounts when being sentenced in relation to crimes that they’ve been convicted over.

“I want to make clear the NSW government will not be repealing hate speech laws passed in parliament last month,” said the premier, as he doubled down on the dubious direction his government has taken. “Our laws criminalised intentionally and publicly inciting hatred towards another person, or group, based on race.”

Minns then engaged in some Trumpian distortions of the truth, as he outlined that “NSW has seen hundreds of antisemitic attacks and incidents”, he referred to the staged incidents as expressions of “racial hatred”, and this included the assertion that while the caravan was no terror incident, it was an example of racist hate.

“While these were drafted in response to horrifying antisemitism,” Minns continued on Thursday, after it was well understood the spate of crimes were a con job, “we have always made clear they would apply to anyone, preying on any person, at any time.”

Misleading the people and parliament

The Minns government, with bipartisan approval, passed the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Racial and Religious Hatred) Bill 2025, the Crimes Amendment (Places of Worship) Bill 2025, and the last-minute addition of the Crimes Amendment (Inciting Racial Hatred) Bill 2025 mid-last month, and as NSW attorney general Michael Daley put it, in response to numerous incidents of antisemitic crimes.

The NSWCCL is asserting that an upper house inquiry take place into this development to ascertain whether Minns and the police minister “misled the parliament and the public” in order to facilitate the passing of the extreme laws, and that during the public debate about the legislation, the government had weaponised fear in order to secure its agenda.

“The Minns Labor government has played right into the hands of those who concocted the caravan plot in using it to drive a repressive and fear-based legislative agenda that has further divided the community,” said NSWCCL president Timothy Roberts in a statement on Thursday.

“NSWCCL is deeply concerned by reports that the premier was aware the plot was a fabrication, not a real threat to lives, when citing it as a potential ‘mass casualty’ event, which justified pushing through repressive laws that have eroded our democratic freedoms,” the lawyer underscored.

According to the civil liberties expert, the premier charged ahead with the legislative changes, without providing law enforcement with the time to complete their investigations, he continued to wax lyrical about terrorism after it was clear the crimes were nothing of the sort, and therefore, Minns must pinpoint exactly when he became aware the crimes were being staged.

“NSWCCL believes that laws must be repealed,” Roberts continued. “At the very least, there must be an inquiry into whether the parliament was misled to secure the passage of the laws that banned protest near places of worship and criminalised speech.”

“Taken for a ride”

NSW Greens justice spokesperson Sue Higginson has joined the calls for the holding of an upper house inquiry into whether Minns and Catley were at fault when progressing their law-and-order agenda.

“A crime syndicate or individual has abused uneasiness in the community and goaded the NSW government into whipping up community fear and division over antisemitism,” said the NSW Greens MLC in a 13 February statement. “Premier Minns has swallowed this bait, hook, line and sinker.”

“I am relieved that this information has finally come to light, but I am furious that the community and the parliament have been taken for a ride by premier Chris Minns and his government that has massively overreacted and jumped the gun with their knee-jerk, overreaching criminal laws,” she continued.

During budget estimates on Wednesday, Higginson quizzed police minister Catley on why she allowed the draconian package of laws to be progressed “on the false basis of terrorist events”, and she attempted to ascertain exactly when the minister became aware that the caravan incident was in fact a fraud. But the Greens member had no luck in securing an answer.

Catley insisted that the hate crime law package was passed “in relation to hate speech and hateful crimes that were occurring on our streets here in Sydney” and not specifically in relation to the caravan event, yet NSW police deputy commissioner Hudson then went on to reveal during the same proceedings that all the crimes were motivated by personal gain and not antisemitic hatred.

“In addition to any inquiry that the parliament supports, I will be moving a debate on a matter of public importance to give the upper house an opportunity to express their concern with premier Chris Minns’ handling of this matter,” Higginson further declared, “and the predicament of the unsound basis for the laws we were bullied into passing.”