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A neo-Nazi rally outside New South Wales parliament on Saturday morning was deemed "authorised" as police had chosen not to oppose the proposed public assembly. Two rows of men clad in black stood at the front gates on Macquarie Street in Sydney and displayed a banner calling for the Jewish lobby to be abolished. About 60 protesters attended the demonstration, which started just before 10am and lasted about 20 minutes, according to police. Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said the force received a "Form 1" from a group called White Australia on October 28, notifying police of its plans to hold a protest. Under the Summary Offences Act, a public assembly is taken to be "authorised" if police were given at least seven days notice and a court has not prohibited the gathering. If a protest is "authorised", participants are immune from being convicted of certain offences like blocking a person or vehicle. "The police area command needs to make an assessment on what's on the Form 1," Commissioner Lanyon said. "They were comfortable … it was not one that they needed to actually take objection to." The commissioner said he would review that decision and added he did not know the protest was taking place due to an internal "communication error", and that he had failed to brief the government. "The premier has been very clear today that he and the government find what took place today offensive," he said. Police could get more powers Premier Chris Minns said the images of the protest were "distressing" and described the event as a "shocking display of hatred and racism and anti-Semitism". "You don't want to give these pissants more oxygen — and I know that holding this media conference does exactly that," he said. "But the truth of the matter is, I've decided that if you give them an inch they'll take a mile. "I want them to be met with a clear and unambiguous message from the government, from political leaders, from civil life, from average New South Wales residents, that we've got no interest in neo-Nazis in Sydney." The premier said it was likely the government needed to give police more powers to stop "this kind of naked hatred and racism in Sydney streets". "We have been locked in discussions for most of the day with the senior lawyers inside the government and they believe that there is room to move in relation to protecting public harmony further than what we've currently constituted," Mr Minns said. The protest was also aimed at new hate speech laws, which could be put to the test by the rally itself. Section 93ZAA of the Crimes Act, which took effect in August, makes it an offence to publicly incite hatred towards another person or group on the grounds of race. Police to review footage of rally Commissioner Lanyon said police were reviewing footage of the protest posted online and captured from security cameras. "We will review that protest to determine whether any offences are available under 93Z.," he said. "If they are, we'll certainly take appropriate action and put people before the court." NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said the rally should be carefully assessed to work out if any laws were broken. "It's tempting to ignore the vile demonstration which was held today and avoid giving these dangerous neo-Nazis the attention they crave," he said. "But evil left unconfronted becomes evil that is normalised. "The chilling images and despicable words of hate which were uttered today should never find a home or be accepted in our society, especially outside the heart of our democracy." 'Time for warnings is over' Alex Ryvchin from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said that conspiracy theories about the Jewish community controlling politics were "more prevalent now than at any time in the past 80 years". "To defeat this, our law enforcement and security agencies need the right legislative tools to monitor and disrupt violent extremists and to prevent them from menacing or physically harming peaceful Australians," he said. "But the single most important thing we must do is to restore decency, civility and basic rationalism to our country." In a statement the Opposition condemned the rally, which it described as "not legitimate free speech but a calculated act of hate". Leader Mark Speakman said it was a "new low in intimidating and instilling fear in our Jewish community". "There must be zero tolerance. The time for warnings is over," he said. "Chris Minns told us that the disgraceful anti-Semitic scenes we saw on the steps of the Opera House would never be tolerated again. "The premier, the police minister and the police commissioner must explain how, on their watch, something as vile and coded as calling for 'abolishing' a 'Jewish lobby' has been allowed to occur outside the cradle of democracy in NSW.
