NSW Premier Chris Minns and Two Ministers Subpoenaed Over Policing of Herzog Protest

The premier of New South Wales has been ordered to appear in a courtroom. Chris Minns, along with police minister Yasmin Catley and tourism minister Steve Kamper, has been served with a subpoena by defence lawyers. They want him to give evidence about the part the government played in planning the police operation at the protest against Isaac Herzog's visit.

The subpoenas were issued in the criminal case against 17 protesters in the local court. The charges include resisting arrest, failing to comply with a police direction and assaulting police. The three politicians are scheduled to give evidence in the week before the March 2027 state election. A pre-trial hearing is set for March, and the protesters are due to face a joint hearing in July 2027.

The group was once larger. Twenty-five protesters were initially set to face court, but many have had their charges withdrawn. One of them, Eyad Shadid, is now suing over his detention.

Nick Hanna, a lawyer for the protesters, said Minns was subpoenaed because the defence will argue the February 2026 police operation was unlawful. In his words, the premier had openly admitted his government was involved in operational police decisions about the protest. Hanna added that if police were carrying out the government's decisions, his clients are entitled to know what those decisions were, who made them and why. Other senior police have been subpoenaed too, including the commissioner, Mal Lanyon.

Minns's own words after the protest are part of the background. In the days that followed, he told reporters that the government could not blame police for doing what it had asked, which was to keep people in NSW safe and protect mourners from the Bondi beach massacre who were at the ICC that evening.

Hanna said the lawyers intend to examine the use of the Public Assembly Restriction Declaration, known as the Pard, which restricted protesters from marching. The state's highest court later found it unconstitutional. Police were also given expanded powers under the Major Events Act, a law typically used for major sporting events. The Palestine Action Group failed to overturn that on the day of the protest, and Kamper approved its unusual use for Herzog's visit.

The premier and ministers can ask the court to set the subpoenas aside, on the grounds that their appearance lacks relevancy or that the terms are oppressive. Minns, Kamper and Catley declined to comment because the matter is before the courts.

The defence has already won one round. Last month Lanyon lost an application to set aside a subpoena for internal police documents. At that hearing the defence showed a 32-minute video compilation, which Hanna alleged showed a concerning pattern of conduct, including unlawful arrests and unlawful use of force and capsicum spray.

Separately, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission began an inquiry into allegations of police brutality in October. After Lanyon made a last-minute bid to have the whole investigation held in private, five weeks of hearings were held privately. Counsel assisting, Kirsten Edwards SC, said in her opening address that the evidence was far from complete. So far it showed limited evidence of physical violence by the protesters. She said the protest appears to have been largely peaceful early on, and that later conduct described by police as aggressive was mostly verbal and tied to a desire to march.

What to watch: whether Minns and his ministers move to set aside the subpoenas, and what the March pre-trial hearing, days before the election, brings out.