Australia’s NSW passes tough anti-protest, gun laws after Bondi attack

In response to the mass shooting in Bondi Beach, which resulted in 15 fatalities, the state of New South Wales (NSW) will have the strictest gun laws in Australia as well as extensive new restrictions on free speech.

The state’s legislative assembly on Wednesday morning, less than two weeks after the attack on a Jewish celebration, approved new laws that appear to restrict speech in line with Palestinians.

Notably, Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 prohibits the public from displaying symbols of prohibited organizations for up to three months following a terrorism declaration.

No public assemblies can be permitted in designated areas, including by a court, where their conduct or presence obstructs traffic, raises fears, harasses, or intimidates, according to a statement from the NSW government.

The sweeping changes would involve a review of “hate speech,” according to NSW Premier Chris Minns and other top officials, who also cited the words “globalise the Intifada” as examples of speech that would be prohibited. The phrase is frequently used in solidarity with Palestinians who oppose Israeli military occupation and the expansion of illegal settlements since the 1980s.

According to Minns, “our state has changed following the horrific anti-Semitic attack on Bondi Beach and our laws must change too” despite the fact that the new laws involved “very significant changes that not everyone will agree with.”

He added that “calming a combustible situation” would be helped by new gun laws, which would outlaw some types of guns from farmers.

Constitutional challenge

Before the final vote on the legislation, three pro-Palestinian, indigenous, and Jewish advocacy groups in NSW announced on Tuesday that they would “filing a constitutional legal challenge” against the draconian anti-protest laws.

In a Facebook statement, Palestine Action Group Sydney announced that it was launching the challenge in collaboration with the Jewish organization Blak Caucus and Jews Against the Occupation.

The Palestinian advocacy group claimed that the NSW government was “exploiting the horrific Bondi attack to advance a political agenda that suppresses political dissent and criticism of Israel, and curtails democratic freedoms by saying, “These outrageous laws will grant NSW Police sweeping powers to effectively ban protests.”

More than 100 000 people marched over the Sydney Harbour Bridge in protest of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza just months after a court overturned a government’s plan to stop the peaceful protest.

In a resounding endorsement of Israel’s occupation of Gaza, Australia joined more than 145 other UN member states in recognizing Palestinian statehood in September of this year, much to the outcry of Israeli officials.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), tied the shooting to Australia’s recognition of Palestinian statehood shortly after the Bondi attack.

Netanyahu’s comments were criticized by UN special rapporteur Ben Saul, who also serves as the University of Sydney’s international law chair.

Saul advocated for a “measured response to the Bondi terrorist attack,” whose UN mandate focuses on ensuring the protection of human rights while battling terrorism.

In a social media post, Saul wrote, “Overreach makes us safer; it lets terror win.”

Honorable heroes

The people who rushed in on the day of the attack at Bondi Beach on December 14 will be honored on a special honours list, according to Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who announced on Wednesday that he plans to create a special honours list in honor of the two attackers.

According to the ABC, Ahmed al-Ahmed, an Australian-Syrian businessman, and Boris and Sofia Gurman, a local couple who attempted to stop the gunmen but were among the victims, were among those honored.

Although al-Ahmed has been widely hailed as a hero in other countries, little is known about a second Muslim man who ran in to aid, even as bystanders tackled him because he had been mistaken for an attacker.