‘I feel just absolutely shocked,’ says Greens MLC injured in protests
NSW Greens MLC Abigail Boyd says she was pushed and shoved by police, despite telling them she was a member of state parliament at the protests last night, and says she was “absolutely shocked” by the police’s actions.
Speaking to ABC RN Breakfast, Boyd says police surrounded the area meaning protesters couldn’t leave and says “but then they decided we couldn’t stay either and they just started assaulting people”.
Boyd says she only got home a few hours ago after being medically treated and posted a picture to social media wearing a neck brace.
My neck is okay. Other parts of my body are incredibly sort of battered and sore, but there’s nothing sort of permanent, I’m told, at this point.
Describing how she was injured, she says:
[An] Officer just pushes his fist into my chin. And then another one, as I’m recovering from that, another one pushes me in my shoulder. It is, I mean, I feel quite naive, but I didn’t know that this was what police could do in our state. I feel just absolutely shocked.
And then for there to be this peaceful prayer, it was prayer. How are these people a threat to anybody? They’re praying and to be just then, they grab them and they’re throwing them, they’re picking them up off of their prayer mats and throwing them to the ground.
Key events
NSW police commission claims police ‘showed remarkable restraint’
Chris Minns has doubled-down on his defense of NSW police officers after clashes with protesters on Monday night, again saying police were put in an “impossible situation”.
Minns is addressing the media in Sydney, following last nights’ protests, alongside the NSW police commissioner Mal Lanyon, who described the events as “simply unacceptable”.
Lanyon claims the speakers at the protest were “inciting the crowd to march”, where he had previously said that would not be acceptable.
Our police showed remarkable restraint. During the first part of the speeches, it was peaceful. We were working continuously with the organiser. However, speakers were inciting the crowd to march. We had made it clear throughout the week march through the CBD was not acceptable.
We wanted a respectful and responsible protest. That’s not what we got last night. Our police took action to disperse that protest.
There has been widespread criticism of the NSW government and NSW police this morning, with footage of the clashes raising concerns.
Nationals deputy claims Islamic extremists feel ‘validated in the violence of Jewish people’ by pro-Palestine protests
There’s been huge reaction to last night’s protests in Sydney and Melbourne, which saw clashes between police and demonstrators.
Anthony Albanese said this morning he was “devastated” by the scenes, and others have expressed shock and outrage by the conduct of police.
But deputy Nationals leader, Kevin Hogan, has tried to draw a link between the protests and validating the feelings of extremists.
He told Sky News this morning:
People may think the protest they went to is okay, chanting that slogan is okay if those people themselves don’t have certain opinions. But Islamic extremists in this country, and we saw two of them last December, when they see that they feel validated in their opinions and they feel validated in the violence of Jewish people in this country.
NSW premier, Chris Minns, has also previously tried to link demonstrations to extremism.
Minns, when trying to justify a crackdown on protests in December that “the implications” of marches could be seen in the Bondi terror attack.
Sarah Collard
Continuing from our last post …
First Nations women are 27 times more likely than other Australian women to be hospitalised due to family violence, and more than seven times more likely to be victims of intimate partner homicide.
SNAIC has also welcomed the launch of the report saying the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community driven approach will ensure Indigenous children and families are supported and strengthened.
Catherine Liddle, CEO of SNAICC, says the report is informed by expertise and experience.
When families are supported to be safe and strong, children are safer too.
We know that child removal is often a consequence of unaddressed harm so preventing violence is an important factor in reducing the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children entering the out-of-home care system.
Sarah Collard
Plan to end violence against First Nations women and children ‘will bring about real change’
The minster for social services, Tanya Plibersek, has just finished speaking at a press conference on the federal government’s response to tackling domestic, family and sexual violence targeting First Nations women and girls.
The ten-year plan from 2026-36 will come with $218m of funding over four years in the budget, which the government says will fund a national network of up to 40 Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to deliver community-led specialist support services.
Plibersek acknowledged that the plan has come off the back of “decades of advocacy” from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, saying that this was the result of careful consultations with communities. She told reporters:
This plan builds on decades of work, and it builds on decades of calls from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, who have told us that solutions that are designed by them and delivered by them in their communities will make the biggest difference.
Aunty Muriel Bamblett, co-chair of the steering committee which led the report, told reporters that the plan is the first of its kind and hopes that it will transform systems supporting First Nations women and children.
“This plan is the first plan that’s actually written by us, for us,” the Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung and Boon Wurrung elder and CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency said.
That will bring about real change. Systems have to change, the core processes, the policing, the way justice is implemented, the way that housing and homelessness, child protection systems, all of those things have to change.
‘This was state violence’, says Greens leader
The federal Greens leader, Larissa Waters, says footage of protests out of Sydney on Monday night is “abhorrent”.
In a post to X, Waters says this was “state violence” and lays blame with the NSW Labor government and federal government for inviting Isaac Herzog.
Peaceful protesters set upon by an arm of police, punches thrown at people with raised hands, people praying ripped from their knees. Is this violence the social cohesion that Labor wanted?
This was state violence, and the blame lies with the NSW Labor government for attempting to shut down legitimate protest, and the federal Labor government who invited the head of a state committing genocide to our shores.
Shame on Labor. Shame on the NSW police.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Ley never given a chance: Plibersek
The senior Labor minister, Tanya Plibersek, says Sussan Ley “hasn’t really been given a chance” by her Liberal colleagues as the push to replace the party’s first female leader gathers momentum.
Plibersek says she’s never witnessed as much “chaos, back-biting, backgrounding (and) briefing” as that which is currently playing out as Angus Taylor plots to unseat Ley.
That’s quite the statement from a Labor MP who lived through the chaos of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years.
Speaking to reporters in Canberra, Plibersek said:
It’s a very typical approach. What happens is the disgruntled alternative candidate to the leadership causes chaos, and then they point to the chaos and they say, oh, there’s a reason for leadership change. I think it’s very disappointing that she [Ley] hasn’t really been given a chance to do her job, but it’s a matter for the Liberal Party. What’s important in our Australian democracy is that there is a strong opposition. I think it’s healthy for our democracy to have that. And at the moment, we’ve got an opposition that’s just focused on themselves.
Duniam tells Taylor to come clean on leadership intentions
Senior conservative Liberal, Jonathon Duniam, has called on Angus Taylor to make his intentions known – spill or no spill.
Speaking to Sky News earlier, Duniam said leadership speculation is part and parcel when it comes to bad polling, which the Liberals are currently facing.
Newspoll yesterday put the Coalition’s primary at a pretty dire 18%.
Duniam said:
Every time a political party, be it Liberal or Labor, find themselves at the position we’re at in the polls right now, it is accompanied by heated speculation around leadership. So this is not some sort of new, surprising territory. It just goes with the territory we’re in now and god willing we can get through it quickly and get on with the job.
A spill or people declaring that there is not going to be a spill. I can’t speak for other people. If there is an intention for leadership to change, then people need to make their views clear. If they’re not going to, they need to rule it out.
Social media ban has ‘exceeded our expectations’, PM says
Anthony Albanese says the eSafety commissioner is looking into reports of child grooming on gaming platform, Roblox, with a review being undertaken into its PG rating.
Albanese spoke to Triple M Hobart a bit earlier this morning, and said they’re asking the eSafety commissioner for “her advice on what powers and tools can be ramped up to protect kids on this platform.”
The safety of children online is non-negotiable. We want kids to be able to be kids. We don’t want kids being exposed to graphic content on Roblox or anything else.
Josh Butler
Roblox responds to government concerns following reports of child grooming
Roblox says it is looking forward to meeting Anika Wells to talk about their child safety measures, saying it is committed to keeping users safe.
As we reported earlier, the communications minister, Wells, has requested an urgent meeting with the gaming platform after reports of child grooming and vile content on the service.
A Roblox spokesperson shared a statement with us this morning, after the story was published.
We look forward to the opportunity to inform the minister of the steps we take to help keep our community safe. Roblox has robust safety policies and processes to help protect users that go beyond many other platforms, and advanced safeguards that monitor for harmful content and communications.
We have filters designed to block the sharing of personal information, our chat features don’t allow user-to-user image or video sharing, and we recently rolled out age checks globally to limit kids and teens to only chatting with others of similar age by default.
We also work closely with Australian law enforcement to support their investigations. While no system is perfect, our commitment to safety never ends, and we continue to strengthen protections to help keep users safe.
Penry Buckley
Minns claims video of NSW cops dragging praying men away took place amid ‘riotous behaviour’
Returning to the NSW premier, Chris Minns has been asked about videos circulating on social media of last night’s protest, including a video showing a number of men kneeling to pray before some were dragged away by police.
Asked about the incident, he told ABC Radio Sydney:
It’s incredibly important that the police’s decades-long association in relationship with the Islamic and Muslim community in New South Wales should take precedent over a clip of what happened last night. And context is important.
There is no way NSW police would have caused or intended to cause offence with the Arabic or the Islamic community under any circumstances.
The host, Craig Reucassel, said: “I think lifting up in the middle of prayer is going to cause offence.” Minns responded:
The context is incredibly important, and the context here was in the middle of what was a riotous behaviour. Now I’m not suggesting that those who are engaging in prayer were conducting that behaviour, but police are left with a difficult situation when they’ve asked people to clear the area.
Nationals party room ‘toxic’ after ‘juvenile theatrics’, says former member
Nationals MP turned independent Andrew Gee says he’s hearing that the Nationals party room is “toxic” and says some Nats feel as though they’re “trapped” in the party.
Speaking to ABC RN Breakfast earlier, Gee, who represents a regional NSW seat, doesn’t hold back in his criticisms of his former party in their conduct during the breakup.
He says that just because David Littleproud and others have said they’ve conducted themselves “professionally” doesn’t mean anyone else has seen it that way.
I’m hearing that it’s toxic in there quite frequently. Frankly, it’s appalling. And there are people in there that just wish they weren’t.
I can’t imagine sitting there and just watching this vainglorious lunacy unfold, these ridiculous, petty juvenile theatrics that we’ve been seeing over the last few weeks?
I was listening to all of these National party descriptions that they’ve acted professionally and with maturity and on matters of high principle. I can tell you that is not what people out there in the real world are thinking about it. They know that it is a shambles because they’re coming up to me on the street and telling me that they’re appalled and disgusted by the whole show.
Gee encourages Nats unhappy in the party to come over to the crossbench and says, “a better life awaits you!”
Tim Wilson claims protests show ‘really disturbing priorities’ and asks why protesters are not targeting Iran
Wilson says Australians should be protesting against the Iranian regime, in response to yesterday’s march against the visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog.
He also criticises the use of the phrase ‘globalise the intifada’.
I think it shows some really disturbing priorities, you know, we’ve currently got about 30,000 people being murdered by the government of Iran for wanting to stand up and be self determining. I don’t see that group of people protesting for Iranians to be able to live their lives freely. Iran has engaged in state sponsored terrorism in Australia and is actively financing Hamas.
‘Middle finger voting’ says Wilson on polling
Liberal MP Tim Wilson says he believes there’s some ‘middle finger voting’ taking place, because there hasn’t been enough focus on the Australian community.
As the internal Liberal dramas continue, and their popularity sinks in the polls, Wilson implores his party to focus on policy (like his colleague Andrew Bragg on RN earlier).
Speaking to Sky News, Wilson says he backs the leader of the party.
I’ve said consistently, I back the leader, and that’s not going to change, because my focus is precisely on how we advance the best interests of the Australian people.
Things go up and down political cycles, but the what the Australian people and what the polls are showing to me is that there’s a bit of middle finger voting going on where Australians are looking at their parliament, and people are not focused on the Australian community.
Liberal party room to meet as leadership speculation continues
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The Liberal party room is due to meet at 9am on Tuesday as speculation that Angus Taylor will soon launch a leadership challenge to Sussan Ley continues to swirl around Canberra.
A leadership spill is considered unlikely at Tuesday’s meeting for a few reasons:
Firstly, the 23 Liberal senators aren’t expected to attend the meeting due to Senate estimates hearings. Liberal party conventions dictate that MPs must be present to vote in the leadership ballot.
The second reason is that Taylor is yet to resign from the shadow cabinet, which he would be required to do in order to challenge Ley.
Supporters of the shadow defence minister were on Monday, certain of a spill at some point this week after the latest Newspoll showed the Coalition’s primary vote had collapsed to 18% – nine percentage points below One Nation.
Senior moderates remain supportive of Ley and are refusing to do a deal with Taylor to engineer her exit, meaning the right-winger will need to woo centre-right and unaligned MPs to secure the leadership.
Stop playing games, says Bragg to Liberals
Jumping back to Andrew Bragg on RN Breakfast, the Liberal senator says his party needs to come up with alternative policy to the government rather than playing games.
The opposition has been plagued by rumours of a leadership spill for months which have crescendoed in recent days. The question now is more a when, rather than if, Angus Taylor will make a move.
Bragg, a moderate, says the public will continue to mark his party down if they don’t start coming up with credible policy. Asked if he supports Sussan Ley continuing as leader, he says:
Yes, I do, and we’ve been sent here by the taxpayers to work hard to hold the government to account and to develop alternative policies, not to play games.
‘I feel just absolutely shocked,’ says Greens MLC injured in protests
NSW Greens MLC Abigail Boyd says she was pushed and shoved by police, despite telling them she was a member of state parliament at the protests last night, and says she was “absolutely shocked” by the police’s actions.
Speaking to ABC RN Breakfast, Boyd says police surrounded the area meaning protesters couldn’t leave and says “but then they decided we couldn’t stay either and they just started assaulting people”.
Boyd says she only got home a few hours ago after being medically treated and posted a picture to social media wearing a neck brace.
My neck is okay. Other parts of my body are incredibly sort of battered and sore, but there’s nothing sort of permanent, I’m told, at this point.
Describing how she was injured, she says:
[An] Officer just pushes his fist into my chin. And then another one, as I’m recovering from that, another one pushes me in my shoulder. It is, I mean, I feel quite naive, but I didn’t know that this was what police could do in our state. I feel just absolutely shocked.
And then for there to be this peaceful prayer, it was prayer. How are these people a threat to anybody? They’re praying and to be just then, they grab them and they’re throwing them, they’re picking them up off of their prayer mats and throwing them to the ground.
