Australia news live: NSW police order pro-Palestine march across Sydney Harbour Bridge to stop due to ‘public safety’ concerns | Australia news

Caitlin Cassidy

Sydney pro-Palestine protesters return home

Thousands of very soggy protestors, this journalist included, are slowly filtering back to Sydney’s CBD after being directed by police to turn around while on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

There was significant confusion when text messages from NSW police started filtering in around 3pm, with some in the crowd uncertain whether to stay put and await further instructions or turn around as crowds were still moving to the northern side of the bridge.

Helicopters continue to fly overhead, though amid chants and traffic, is difficult to hear their messaging. Still, spirits are high, and calls of “Free Palestine” are continuing as people safely make it home.

If you’re just joining us, here’s what we know so far about the pro-Palestinian marches in Sydney and Melbourne:

• The Sydney Harbour Bridge was closed at 11.30am with tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian supporters marching in the rain across the bridge from 1.30pm after speeches from Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi, Indigenous actor Meyne Wyatt and former Socceroo and Australian of the Year Craig Foster.

• Those in the protest included WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, former foreign affairs minister, Bob Carr, and federal Labor MP Ed Husic. Shouts of “We are all Palestinian” could be heard from the front of the march.

• Text messages from NSW Police told people to stop walking across the bridge, and police say they will work with protester organisers to get people off the bridge in a staged manner.

• Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters in Melbourne were met by Victoria police in riot gear, trucks and a barricade as police blocked the plan for the protesters to block the Kings Street Bridge.

Jordyn Beazley

‘A peaceful assembly and a powerful one’, Labor MP Ed Husic says

Ed Husic was among the many state and federal Labor MPs who marched at the head of the protest across the bridge.

He told Guardian Australia moments after walking off the bridge that it was time for the government to sanction Israel and recognise Palestinian statehood.

Husic says:

Where the Netanyahu government won’t listen to international concern about the treatment of innocent civilians, then sanctions are the appropriate way to respond. I genuinely believe that us standing with our friends in France, UK and Canada, is important. I just think it makes blazingly clear sense for us to work with really reliable, solid partners, as we’ve seen in the last week, [to] come out and call for recognition of Palestine.

Asked if he thinks the march today shows that this is also what the country wants, he said:

People power has come out, I think, largely because they just cannot abide the treatment that has been seen of little kids. They want the starvation to end. They want the killing to end. And that, I think, has propelled people on to the streets, rightly so, when the treatment of children that we’ve seen not only offends international humanitarian law, it offends our values as a people.

This is been a peaceful assembly and a powerful one.

NSW Police want marchers to leave Sydney Harbour Bridge in ‘staged manner’

NSW police have issued a third geo-located text message to protesters on the Sydney Harbour Bridge advising police will be working with the protesters to get everyone off the bridge safely, but in a staged manner.

They advised protesters to remain calm and follow directions by police.

This is Graham Readfearn handing over to my colleague Josh Taylor to keep our live blog rolling. The day is a long way from over.

Thanks for continuing to stay with us.

Residents in parts of Gunnedah advised to evacuate as major flood level looms

People living in two areas of the NSW town of Gunnedah have been advised to evacuate before 4pm as the Namoi river continues to rise after heavy rainfall.

The NSW SES has issued emergency warnings for people in the Talibah Flats and Wolseley Park areas of the town, in north central NSW.

The river is likely to reach a major flood level of 7.9 metres this evening and could rise to 8.2 metres by Monday morning, the warning from the SES says.

There are 15 “Watch and Act” warnings in place across the state.

Another text message is now asking people to stop walking north, while a helicopter flying above the bridge with a loudspeaker is asking the crowd to turn around and head back to the CBD.

The text message says:

Update from NSW Police: After consultation with protest organisers, we are asking that everyone stops walking north. As soon as the march has stopped, we will look at turning everyone around, back towards the city. BUT it needs to be done in a controlled way in stages to keep everyone safe.

People in Sydney have received a text message from NSW police that says:

Message from NSW Police: In consultation with the organisers, the march needs to stop due to public safety and await further instructions.

Police have confirmed to the Guardian that the message is genuine. We’ll try to find out more about why the police have taken this step.

Police start to turn Sydney protesters back across bridge

One of our reporters at the Sydney march, Jordyn Beazley, says police are now attempting to manoeuvre the front of the march back across the bridge.

Police said a few moments ago that to avoid a potential crowd crush, they were allowing protesters to turn around and go back across the bridge.

Josh Taylor

Melbourne protesters appear to be blocked from King Street Bridge

While in Sydney the march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge has gone ahead, pro-Palestinian protesters in Melbourne’s CBD, who had planned to shut down King Street Bridge, appear to have been blocked from crossing the Bridge by police

Video shared on social media by the protest organisers shows police in riot gear and shields blocking the King Street Bridge with trucks.

Victoria police were approached to confirm the bridge had been shut down, and a spokesperson said a statement would be released at the end of the day.

The front of the Sydney pro-Palestine march’ has crossed the harbour bridge, with a video from the Guardian’s Shelley Hepworth on BlueSky showing the march at a standstill, with the crowd shouting, “We are all Palestinians.”

Here are some more images of Julian Assange attending the Palestine Action Group’s March for Humanity protest in Sydney.

Police say protesters can walk back across the bridge to avoid crowd crush

NSW police have said protesters can now walk back across the Sydney Harbour Bridge once the march has reached the northern end, in an attempt to avoid a “potential crowd crush”.

The initial plan was for protesters to walk north from the Wynyard end of the bridge, then disperse in North Sydney.

But in a statement, police said “due to the public safety risk and prevailing weather conditions”, protesters could walk back southbound across the bridge to the Sydney CBD.

Operation commander Adam Johnson said the change would be facilitated by specialist tactical police:

People who travelled from Sydney’s northern suburbs can leave the group, and North Sydney train station will remain open and operating as originally intended, but due to the risk of a potential crowd crush scenario at the train station, we will now provide the third option of allowing protesters to walk back across the Bridge and disperse in the CBD.

This means the Bridge will remain closed for a longer period than originally planned, until the operation concludes.

I urge all involved to obey directions of police – they are acting in the best interests of everyone. Our planning and intent has always been to ensure the safety of everyone.

We do not have an alternative.

Crowd size estimate

The Palestine Action Group who are organising the Sydney march were expecting about 50,000 people to turn out.

It’s difficult to say how many people are there right now, with reports and pictures of tightly packed streets.

One police officer has told a Guardian reporter on the ground that the force thought the number was about 25,000.

Protesters throng Wynyard station

Protesters continue to arrive at Wynyard station in Sydney to walk across the Harbour Bridge – braving appalling weather conditions to protest Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.

Caitlin Cassidy

‘Innocent babies have no colour, no religion, no language’

The crowd has begun to slowly filter down Lang Street towards the bridge.

Earlier, Nurses and Midwives 4 Palestine stood in the rain on with their umbrellas and large sign, swapping snacks and joining in chants.

They have been braving all weather conditions to attend weekly pro-Palestine rallies since 2023.

Today isn’t new for them – but what does feel different is the sheer scale of the march.

Mark Murphy, a registered nurse and member of the group, says the Palestinian people have been “voiceless”:

There’s a genocide, there’s forced starvation … Palestinians have got no rights. By us showing up here, it’s a small token … we want to make sure the rest of the world is hearing, and taking action. This is what people power’s all about.

Philomena McGoldrick, a registered nurse and midwife, has spent stints working in Gaza and has been heartbroken by images circulating of starving children. She says:

Innocent babies have no colour, no religion, no language. In this day and age … it’s heartbreaking … But it’s nice to meet people standing on the right side. The tide has changed.

Caitlin Cassidy

Crowd waits to march in Sydney during a break in the rain

The rain has briefly abated and the crowd in Sydney, packed on Lang Street in their thousands, are waiting to march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Many protestors are carrying pots and utensils to draw attention to the ongoing starvation in Gaza.

Dan, who is originally from the UK, is proudly holding a sign reading “Gay Jews 4 Gaza”.

He’s in attendance over the frustration of the war in Gaza continuing for so long and the federal government “seemingly doing nothing”.

I grew up in a north London Jewish community, and I think there’s a widespread Zionism that exists within the Jewish community that is difficult to separate from religion … I think it’s important for people within the community to stand up and raise their voice against the state of Israel because they’re not representative of the Jewish community as a whole.

Asked if this feels like a turning point, Dan says:

I hope so … it’s gone on long enough without action.