“I want to make it clear we completely support police’s decision in relation to that application; the reasons are, it’s the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack in Israel. Obviously, community anger and concern on the streets is heightened as a result of that anniversary,” the premier said.

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“It’s the long weekend in Sydney, and the police believe that there was a high prospect of conflict on the streets of Sydney, something that we couldn’t abide or stand by under the circumstances.”

The PAG has indicated it would defend their application, saying in a statement: “We intend on defending our right to protest and are determined to continue standing for justice for Palestine and Lebanon.”

Minns acknowledged that after 51 weeks of successive protests, largely without incident, the vast majority of attendees were there supporting Palestinian rights as opposed to Hezbollah, a designated terrorist organisation.

But the appearance of flags supporting the Lebanese Shia political party and militant group last weekend proved to be one of the critical factors in the decision, Minns said.

“We can’t stop the violence in the Middle East from Sydney, and we can’t import the violence from the Middle East to Sydney. That’s a fundamental but basic principle in NSW,” he said.

“In the application form lodged with NSW Police protest organisers didn’t believe they were in a position to stop the waving of flags, even from terrorist organisations on those streets, and as a result of that, police had to make a difficult decision in the circumstances.”

Greens justice spokesperson Sue Higginson said the move by NSW Police to prohibit the assembly was “harsh and oppressive”.

“To learn that the reason for this undemocratic intolerance of the people’s right to protest is due to a few planter boxes on the street is cruel, callous and frankly dangerous,” she said.

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