After blows to his anti-protest laws, Minns considers retreat from ‘globalise the intifada’ ban

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has said he will only ban the slogan “globalise the intifada” if a potential constitutional challenge to a similar ban in Queensland is unsuccessful, the strongest indication yet that the state government may not seek to proscribe the contested phrase at all. Minns was unequivocal about his intention to ban what he described as “hateful, violent rhetoric” following the Bondi terror attack in December, but sent the issue to a parliamentary inquiry, which he said would enable legislation to be introduced when parliament returned in February. Despite the inquiry recommending the phrase be banned when it is linked to “incitement of hatred, or harassment, intimidation or violence”, that legislation has yet to materialise. Meanwhile, Queensland has gone ahead with its own ban, also capturing the phrase “from the river to the sea”, which has seen dozens of arrests and pro-Palestine groups vow to launch a legal challenge. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email In an interview with 2GB on Tuesday, the premier explicitly linked the fate of NSW legislation to the outcome of that challenge. “If [the ban] is upheld in Queensland, I’ll do it in New South Wales , I won’t muck around,” he said. …