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Asked about the Put Australia First rally, which went ahead in Sydney on the weekend despite pleas from authorities to cancel, Sloane said there were “important public safety reasons” for shutting down public assemblies.

She added that if the laws to be debated today were already in place, it would not have been able to go ahead.

We need our police around Bondi and Sydney’s east at the moment. People, again, should feel free to express their opinions - they can do it in an ongoing fashion after that terrorist designation.

I would like to see a royal commission. I’d like to see that led by the Commonwealth. New South Wales can’t go it alone in this. Terrorism doesn’t know borders. So, yes, I support a royal commission.

We need understand exactly what happened - not just on the day, not just in the weeks and months leading up to it, but the broader build-up - what has contributed. Australia needs answers on what was the root cause of this terrible attack and what we can do to ensure that we never see this on our beaches, on our cities and our soil again.

Last Friday, I wrote to the Premier saying: ‘Premier, now is the time to reconsider the opposition’s proposals’. He has taken some of our ideas and included that in the laws that we will be debating in parliament today.

We want to see a proportionate response - one that is measured, one that balances the rights and freedoms of protest, which is a fundamental pillar of democracy in this country, and a way for people to let off steam - that is important. We want to see that continue. But equally, we need to give police the tools that they need to clamp down on protests if that is in the public interest, if it is a present danger to the community, or impacts on social cohesion.

So, even beyond these laws today, we have a lot of work to do. This is going to be a long process. And we’re all committed to do a better outcome.

There would be carve-outs for people with religious face coverings - that’s very important. But if you turn up to a protest and you are spewing hate and you are hiding your identity, the police need to be to say, ‘that’s not ok’. You can turn up to a protest, you can show your face - but if you are spewing hate and your face is covered, that is not ok. And improving the laws to stop that will be supported by, certainly, the Liberals.

Source: Guardian - World News