The NSW premier is threatening to shut down weekly pro-Palestine demonstrations due to the ongoing “drain” on police resources.

Chris Minns is ordering a review into the handling of the marches, which have run through Sydney’s streets every Sunday for a year, following the Hamas October 7 massacre and Israel’s Gaza counter-attack.

There was a heavy police presence at Sunday’s protest, where around 10,000 congregated in Sydney’s Hyde Park after the authorities ditched a court bid to shut the rally down.

But Mr Minns says police should be allowed to deny a request for a march due to stretched resources, revealing NSW had spent at least $5 million on the protests in 2024 alone.

“We still have to have police to investigate serious crime in NSW, that’s proven to be incredibly difficult if our resources are tied up with marches and protests,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

“If an application is made every single weekend, week after week after week, draining police resources and time and taxpayer money, police and taxpayers in the state are entitled to say we’ve got other things that are taking place in this busy city.”

NSW has a permit system that allows protest participants to disobey laws against blocking transport routes with police approval, although officials can go to court to deny permission.

The premier said the government and police would join forces for the review.

Major sporting events and concerts that require a large police presence fund those resources themselves, while “regular mums and dads out of their back pockets” effectively covered protests, Mr Minns said.

Hundreds met at a mosque rally and at candlelight vigils across Sydney on Monday, the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s terrorist attack that left about 1200 people dead and 250 more taken hostage.

Organisers argued October 7 also marked the beginning of Israel’s counter-attack, which has killed more than 41,000 people in occupied Gaza, according to Palestinian officials.

Two people have been charged with displaying Nazi symbols at Sunday’s protest in Sydney, while four people were arrested at a 7000-person-strong rally in Melbourne on the same day.

But Victoria Police commended the behaviour of those at a vigil in Melbourne on Monday evening.

“Around 500 people attended the rally and there were no major issues of note reported to police,” a statement said.

“Police were pleased with the behaviour of attendees … there were no displays of prohibited symbols.”

This post was originally published on Michael West.