00:00 Since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, thousands of Sydney-siders have
00:06 rallied every weekend.
00:08 Hundreds of police have supervised the events.
00:11 Yesterday, the Premier put a price tag on the cost to taxpayers.
00:15 It's in excess of a million dollars for a major protest.
00:18 Today, he explained the maths.
00:20 On a typical Saturday, the New South Wales Police does not deploy 900 police officers
00:26 to the middle of the CBD, as well as Polar, as well as the Riot Squad.
00:30 Now he's asking the Feds to help foot the bill.
00:33 I don't think it's unreasonable for the New South Wales Government, and potentially
00:36 the Victorian Government too if they want, to ask the Commonwealth for help.
00:41 As it is a foreign affairs issue, ultimately, Commonwealth support would be welcome.
00:46 The Commonwealth declined to comment.
00:48 We're asking the Federal Government to supply some discretionary funding.
00:52 As tensions rise in the community, the Government is concerned about the effectiveness of an
00:56 offence introduced in 2018, criminalising public threats and inciting violence on various
01:02 grounds, including race or religion.
01:05 It's understood just six people have been charged, but so far no prosecution has been
01:09 successful.
01:10 If you're going to have a law on the books saying racial vilification and hate speech
01:14 is not allowed in New South Wales, then it can't be toothless.
01:19 You might say, well if you're not using the law, then you risk discrediting it.
01:25 Law professor Simon Rice says the offence is hard to prove.
01:28 So it may be that all we do have is a public statement of principle, and we may have to
01:33 live with the fact that it's going to be very hard to ever actually prosecute.
01:36 The Premier says the law will be reviewed.
01:38 [BLANK_AUDIO]
