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

On Tuesday the NSW premier, Chris Minns, said there was a greater need for ‘civic leadership’ in maintaining social harmony. ‘It can’t all just be legislative change and outright banning of things,’ he said. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAPView image in fullscreenOn Tuesday the NSW premier, Chris Minns, said there was a greater need for ‘civic leadership’ in maintaining social harmony. ‘It can’t all just be legislative change and outright banning of things,’ he said. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAPNew South Wales politicsAnalysisAfter blows to his anti-protest laws, Minns considers retreat from ‘globalise the intifada’ banPenry BuckleyThe NSW premier, who was unequivocal in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, has now linked the fate of his state’s laws with those of the Queensland legal challenge Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Tue 28 Apr 2026 02.19 EDTLast modified on Tue 28 Apr 2026 02.34 EDTShareThe 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.What does ‘globalise the intifada’ mean, and why does NSW want to ban the chant?Read moreDespite 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 emailIn 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.“It looks fantastic for me, perhaps, if I move a piece of legislation in the initial instance, but in three months’ time, if it’s knocked over in the courts, I’ve looked through this via bitter experience and realised we’re in a worse position than where we were.”It was another step back from Minns, who told a press conference in March that while he was “grateful” another jurisdiction had gone ahead, a ban was “coming in soon” irrespective of how things played out in Queensland. He said he would fight a constitutional challenge in NSW.But following a successful challenge in April to another element of his post-Bondi legislative agenda – controversial anti-protest laws – his office confirmed he was now looking to the neighbouring state.The premier’s comments on Tuesday appear to be a further retreat.The NSW court of appeal’s recent ruling that the anti-protest laws impermissibly burdened the right to political communication seems to have made the difference, the second challenge Minns has lost after the court struck down laws prohibiting protests outside places of worship in October.The controversy around the inquiry into banning “globalise the intifada”…

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