Community Legal Centres NSW notes the decision of Justice Ierace yesterday and notes further that, given the publicised intention of the applicants to appeal, the matter remains before the Supreme Court.
We support the right of people to protest, and we particularly support the right of all people to protest the continuing injustice being experienced by Aboriginal people in NSW and nationally. The family of the late David Dungay Jr should be entitled and supported to publicly seek justice, and many, many others will want to support them. We stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.
We acknowledge and admire the steps taken by organisers of past BLM rallies to ensure social distancing and the prevention of COVID-19 transmission, and we are appalled by the baseless reports linking rallies with transmission.
Many community legal centres employees are participating in this movement, including by volunteering as legal observers of police behaviour at BLM events.
We are hopeful that the Supreme Court may still permit the rally to proceed, and people can make their own decisions about attendance based on the best public health advice available.