Key facts
- 56 NSW Labor branches have submitted motions to the state conference calling for the repeal or review of anti-protest laws.
- The Labor left faction is backing a motion to repeal two specific anti-protest laws.
- Concerns exist that the protest laws will not be debated due to their placement on the conference agenda.
- The anti-protest laws include penalties of up to two years in jail for blocking major facilities.
- A law restricting protests outside places of worship is also targeted for repeal.
- Premier Chris Minns is expected to announce a plan for train manufacturing in the Hunter region.
The New South Wales Labor party is preparing for its state conference, with a significant number of branches, particularly within the left faction, pushing for the repeal of controversial anti-protest laws enacted by the previous coalition government and supported by Labor. Fifty-six branches have submitted motions calling for these laws, which carry penalties of up to two years in jail for blocking major facilities and restrict protests outside places of worship, to be repealed or reviewed.
Concerns have been raised by some party members that the debate on these protest laws may be curtailed due to their placement late on the conference agenda. Civil liberties advocates and Labor members have voiced that this scheduling attempts to silence dissent and ignore the rank and file's priorities, with the right to protest being the most submitted issue in the social justice chapter.
Premier Chris Minns is expected to address the conference and is also set to announce a $12 billion plan over 15 years to bring train manufacturing back to the Hunter region, aiming to create hundreds of construction and ongoing manufacturing jobs. However, this announcement may be overshadowed by the push to repeal the anti-protest legislation.
Further debate is unlikely on the 'Australia and the World' committee report, as it has been referred to the party's national conference. This has drawn criticism from groups like Labor Friends of Palestine and Labor Against War, who argue that key issues like AUKUS and the ongoing violence in Palestine, which were unanimously condemned in branch motions, are not being adequately debated at the state level.
Separately, Mayor Darcy Byrne is expected to address the harm caused by poker machines, framing it as a crisis that the party can no longer ignore.