About 90,000 people attended pro-Palestine rally, NSW police say
NSW police are holding a press conference in Sydney after a march across Sydney Harbour Bridge was stopped due to safety concerns.
The acting deputy commissioner Peter McKenna says police estimate 90,000 people took part in the protest:
At points today we were really concerned about a crowd crush.
He notes that the number was larger than the 50,000 that organisers estimated would turn out:
We could not get those people, the number, the significant size of that crowd off that northern egress route without risking crowd crush. We could not allow those numbers to then egress into the northern side, into those train stations without again, that real risk of crowd crush.
Key events
-
What we learned, Sunday 3 August
-
About 90,000 people attended pro-Palestine rally, NSW police say
-
What we know so far about the protests
-
Police ask Sydney marchers to turn around
-
Police ask Sydney marchers to stop and wait further instructions
-
‘We are all Palestinians,’ marchers shout after crossing bridge
-
Protesters begin crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge
-
Hundreds of children among Sydney marchers
-
‘Thank you for defying Chris Minns,’ Greens senator says
-
What we know so far about the Pro-Palestine marches
-
‘Time to move on,’ Victorian Liberals say as pro-Palestine protesters gather
-
Sydney Harbour Bridge is now a wet and empty scene
-
Liberal net zero policy review could take a year, shadow energy minister says
-
‘Rain, hail, or shine, we will free Palestine!’ Sydney march organiser says
-
Flood warnings for NSW rivers as heavy rain and snow lash parts of state
-
NSW transport warns people to expect major delays from Sydney protest
-
Woman washed away by flood waters in Hunter region
-
NSW police promise heavy presence for Sydney pro-Palestine march
-
Good morning
What we learned, Sunday 3 August
We will wrap up today’s live blog here, on what has been an historic and busy news day. Here’s what we covered:
-
The Sydney Harbour Bridge was closed at 11.30am with police estimating at least 90,000 marched. Organisers claim up to 300,000 pro-Palestinian supporters walked in the rain across the bridge from 1.30pm after speeches from Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi, Indigenous actor Meyne Wyatt and former Socceroo and Australian of the Year Craig Foster.
-
Those in the protest included the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, former foreign affairs minister Bob Carr, and federal Labor MP Ed Husic. Shouts of “We are all Palestinian” could be heard from the front of the march.
-
Text messages from NSW police told people to stop walking across the bridge, and police said they would work with protester organisers to get people off the bridge in a staged manner.
-
The bridge emptied of people after 4pm, with protesters facing long delays on trains.
-
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters in Melbourne were met by Victoria police in riot gear, trucks and a barricade as police blocked the plan for the protesters to block the Kings Street Bridge.
-
In a media statement headlined “Time to move on”, the Victorian state opposition attacked the pro-Palestine protest in Melbourne, blaming the premier, Jacinta Allan, for failing to stop the blockade.
-
Emergency services continue to search for a woman who police say escaped a vehicle stuck in flood waters in the Hunter region.
-
There was a lot of rain and snow around parts of NSW.
We will be back tomorrow with all the latest. Until then, stay safe.
Jordyn Beazley
And that’s where we’ll wrap the blog up today.
Thank you so much for staying with our live coverage of what was one of the biggest protests in Sydney’s history.
The police estimate more than 90,000 people attended, with demonstrators stretching the entire length of the 1.2km Harbour Bridge.
There will be more from us later this evening after our journalists that were on the ground file their coverage of the day.
For now, find our latest here:
Some more photos from the pro-Palestine protest that marched across Sydney Harbour Bridge today:
Sydney Harbour Bridge protest ‘largest’ two senior police officers have seen
Acting deputy commissioner Peter McKenna said the protest was the largest that he and the assistant police commissioner have seen in their time in the force in Sydney.
McKenna pointed out during the press conference a short time ago that the Palestine Action Group’s form 1 to police estimated 10,000 people would march. Police now estimate there were 90,000.
Asked if “the commotion around the event” caused it to be more popular than it would have otherwise been, McKenna said:
All I know is that the supreme court allowed this to go ahead, and therefore we follow the law of the day, and we supported that.
Victoria police release statement on thwarted Melbourne protest
Thousands of Melburnians marched in solidarity with Sydney protesters today but were swiftly met with a firm police presence.
Victoria police said about 3,000 protesters had gathered at the State Library:
The group marched from that location and despite repeated requests from police, they marched to King St.
As a result of this, Victoria Police closed the King Street Bridge and diversions were put in place.
Police established a line across King Street Bridge and protestors did not access the bridge.
No arrests were made during the protest and the King Street Bridge has since been re-opened.
Police added that they were making inquiries after someone was allegedly hit by an egg.
Sydneysiders commended for avoiding non-essential travel
Acting assistant commissioner Adam Johnson hands over to Craig Moran from Transport for NSW, who starts by thanking the people of Sydney who avoided non-essential travel.
Moran also commends the decision to turn protesters around at the north end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge:
Yes, there was quite a bit of congestion, particularly on the road network and the Anzac Bridge when the initial closure was put in place, we saw massive crowds that we had to work with police to manage.
With those crowds that were on the Harbour Bridge, we equally had concerns about how we could safely accommodate those numbers, particularly at North Sydney station, and really supported the need to get them back towards the CBD, where we had more options to help get them home.
Protesters were well behaved but day was ‘perilous’, police say
Acting deputy commissioner Peter McKenna confirms that there were no reported injuries among civilians or police but describes the day as “perilous” at times:
Gee whiz, I wouldn’t like to try and do this every Sunday at that short notice.
There’s a reason we need time to plan these things out, and I think going forward into the future, that has to be taken into consideration. We’re very lucky today that the crowd was well behaved.
McKenna hands over to acting assistant commissioner Adam Johnson, who echoes McKenna in saying he had never seen a more “perilous” situation:
I can honestly say in my 35 years of policing, that was a perilous situation. I’ve never seen a more perilous situation.
I was honestly worried that we were going to have a major incident with potential loss of life.
About 90,000 people attended pro-Palestine rally, NSW police say
NSW police are holding a press conference in Sydney after a march across Sydney Harbour Bridge was stopped due to safety concerns.
The acting deputy commissioner Peter McKenna says police estimate 90,000 people took part in the protest:
At points today we were really concerned about a crowd crush.
He notes that the number was larger than the 50,000 that organisers estimated would turn out:
We could not get those people, the number, the significant size of that crowd off that northern egress route without risking crowd crush. We could not allow those numbers to then egress into the northern side, into those train stations without again, that real risk of crowd crush.
A view from a train shows the scale of the Sydney Harbour Bridge protest.
From earlier, here’s a clip of pro-Palestine protesters chanting as they reached the northern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge:
Caitlin Cassidy
‘This is history in the making,’ Sydney protester says
It was striking how many children were in attendance at today’s march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with many carrying handmade signs and leading chants.
Aaliyah, eight, sat on her father’s shoulders calling out “Free Palestine”, her face painted with the Palestinian flag.
Her parents, Ali and Hanan, said it was “the injustice” that had brought them out today. Ali said:
It’s 2025, how can we witness this. This is a big moment. This is history in the making. The people shut down the harbour bridge – the people did it.
To Hanan, having her daughter there was special, representing something “bigger than us”:
It’s very important to teach our children you stand up for what’s right. When something is unjust, you stand up for those who don’t have a voice.
Protest plan to block Melbourne bridge blocked by Victoria police
In Melbourne, pro-Palestine protesters marching for the 93rd time since 7 October 2023 were met by riot police at King Street Bridge.
Their plan to block the bridge was stopped by police who were blocking the bridge. According to reports most of the protest crowd dispersed with a few dozen remaining on the bridge.
A Victoria police spokesperson has said a statement will be issued at the end of the day.