Pro-Palestine protest organisers ‘a pack of communists’ intent on confrontation with police, Minns tells budget estimates

Pro-Palestine protest organisers ‘a pack of communists’ intent on confrontation with police, Minns tells budget estimates New South Wales premier faces questions over what he told MPs who attended demonstration opposing Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s visit Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has labelled pro-Palestine protest organisers “a pack of communists” as he continues to blame them for violent clashes with police last month, amid ongoing dissent among Labor MPs about the government’s response. Minns faced questions at NSW budget estimates on Thursday about what he told members of the government about attending pro-Palestine rallies, after four Labor backbenchers attended a protest against the visit by the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, at Sydney’s Town Hall on 9 February. All four have supported an independent review into police actions at the rally, which saw multiple protesters charged with public order offences and prompted an investigation into alleged police brutality by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission . Several protesters have indicated they will launch civil cases against police . Minns said he did not know whether advice had been issued to MPs about rallies organised by the Palestine Action Group , including a march on the Sydney Harbour Bridge last year which Labor ministers Penny Sharpe and Jihad Dib also attended, but said protests organised by the group “have resulted in violent behaviour, terrorist symbols, hate speech on Sydney streets”. “I genuinely believe that a lot of people have attended those marches with none of those intentions in place.” “My dilemma is that those protests are organised by a pack of communists that are just intent on having a confrontation with police.” Following the comments, one Labor backbencher who attended the Herzog protest, Stephen Lawrence MLC, defended protesters as “all generally ...