SYDNEY, Tuesday 10 February 2026 — In response to the violent assaults by NSW Police on peaceable protesters gathering in Sydney final night, Dr Susie Byers, Head of Advocacy at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, stated:
“The appropriate to peaceable meeting is a basic pillar of a wholesome democracy and a primary proper of all Australians.
“The violent actions of NSW Cops in Sydney final night time are a major escalation within the suppression of the best to protest in NSW, and half of a bigger nationwide development of concentrating on and criminalising protesters. These actions have a chilling impact on democracy and peaceable protest in Australia, and are designed to curtail peaceable public dissent.
“These occasions cannot be separated from what’s occurring globally, with the erosion of civil liberties and rise of authoritarianism threatening democracy and human rights. Australia should not comply with nations like america down this path.
“Greenpeace has a protracted and proud historical past of utilizing nonviolent direct motion and peaceable protest to attain environmental protections and local weather justice. Most of the freedoms and rights we cherish had been gained and defended when Australians stood up for what mattered — ladies’s proper to vote, employees’ rights, and defending the locations we love from exploitation, from the Franklin River to the Nice Barrier Reef.
“The NSW authorities should decide to defending the best to protest and halt the introduction of additional protest restrictions.”
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