A senior officer from the New South Wales Police has raised serious concerns about public safety at an upcoming pro-Palestinian march planned for the Sydney Opera House. Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna expressed skepticism about the ability to manage a crowd of tens of thousands in a staggered manner during a court hearing. The Palestine Action Group (PAG) has applied for a permit to hold the event on Sunday, starting at Hyde Park and moving to the Opera House. However, the NSW Police Force is seeking a prohibition order from the Court of Appeal, which would limit participants' protections against charges like obstructing roads.

McKenna's concerns focus on the limited exit points available for a large crowd at the Opera House forecourt. He noted that the existing exit options include a staircase that is inadequate for thousands of people and a walkway with minimal separation from the harbor. "It has disaster written all over it," he stated during cross-examination by the protest group's legal team.

Felicity Graham, representing the PAG, suggested that the crowd could reach 40,000 and emphasized the importance of "altruism and mutual assistance" in preventing crowd-related tragedies. In response, McKenna countered, "All the altruism in the world doesn't assist when you have a physical situation where we believe the numbers are far too excessive to keep people safe."

The court also heard that on October 9, 2023, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at the Opera House, which had its sails illuminated in blue and white in solidarity with Israel following the October 7 Hamas attacks.

During the hearing, Graham proposed that the crowd could be managed by staggering the procession to the Opera House to avoid exceeding the forecourt's capacity of about 6,000 people. However, McKenna dismissed this idea as "not that simple," citing potential communication challenges. He emphasized that the police's role is to ensure public safety, stating, "The politics of a protest had nothing to do with me as a police officer."

Jade McKellar, Acting CEO of the Sydney Opera House, testified that full security screening is standard practice for mass gatherings. This would involve open gate screening, X-ray checks if necessary, wanding, and visual inspections. She confirmed that the Opera House has technology to monitor crowd sizes in various areas, including the forecourt.

The case is being heard by Chief Justice Andrew Bell and Justices Ian Harrison and Stephen Free, after both parties agreed to move it from the Supreme Court to the Court of Appeal due to its complexity and urgency. Earlier, Graham indicated that her clients would ask the court to determine whether "a genocide is occurring in the Gaza strip," citing expert evidence. However, James Emmett SC, representing the NSW Police, argued that the court "neither can nor should" make such a finding of fact, although he acknowledged that the expert evidence could demonstrate the sincerely held beliefs of the defendants and rally participants.

The court is also expected to address a constitutional argument related to legislation governing the Sydney Opera House area, which was flagged in the Supreme Court earlier this week.