Supreme Court BANS refugee rally in Sydney after protester who attended Black Lives Matter march is diagnosed with coronavirus
A refugee rights protest planned to be held in Sydney this weekend has been blocked by the Supreme Court after organisers were accused of playing ‘Russian roulette’ amid the COVID-19 epidemic.
Justice Michael Walton on Thursday night granted a NSW Police application for the protest to be declared a prohibited public gathering.
The rally, which was being organised by the Refugee Action Coalition (RAC), was scheduled to take place at Sydney’s Town Hall on Saturday afternoon.
RAC organiser James Supple told the court they were expecting a modest crowd of about 150 to 200 and that it could be held while observing social distancing rules.
But Justice Walton accepted arguments put forward by Lachlan Gyles SC, acting for NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller, who cited health concerns.
It comes after a protester who attended Melbourne’s Black Lives Matter rally on Saturday tested positive for coronavirus.
The non-indigenous man in his 30s wore a mask, was not symptomatic at Saturday’s protest and is unlikely to have contracted the virus at the event, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told reporters.
But he developed symptoms on Sunday.
‘They were potentially infectious, so the lesson about warning people not to attend applies,’ Prof Sutton said on Thursday.
Thousands gathered in the CBD on Saturday for the rally against Aboriginal deaths in custody and in solidarity with protests in the US following the death of unarmed black man George Floyd at the hands of police.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called for people attending future anti-racism protests to be arrested and charged, warning rallies are blocking eased coronavirus restrictions.
Mr Morrison said the ‘double standard’ displayed by protesters had offended many Australians.
The potential health fallout is impeding decisions around interstate travel, funeral numbers and places of worship.
‘It just puts a massive spanner in the works and that’s why it’s so frustrating,’ he told 2GB radio on Thursday.
‘They have put the whole track back to recovery at risk and certainly any further action on this front would be absolutely unacceptable.’
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee firmed up its health advice warning against mass gatherings at a meeting on Thursday.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said the large crowds struggled to maintain social distancing.
‘If we had had a person or a number of people with COVID-19 amongst those crowds, then there would have been the risk of significant transmission,’ he told the ABC.
The prime minister said protesters should be charged if they attend further Black Lives Matter rallies.