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Three demonstrators were arrested after a pro-Palestine rally outside the Opera House on October 9,when anti-Jewish epithets were hurled into the night air.Credit:AP

The documents,released via a parliamentary order,outline how a senior officer wrote to colleagues “in confidence” on Sunday,October 8,at 6.10pm to say that the premier’s office had “indicated they will be lighting the Opera House sails in blue and white” on the following night.

Christine McDonald,the chief of staff to NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb,said in the email that she and acting commissioner David Hudson were “equally concerned” about the “impact this might have on our streets”.

McDonald said she and Hudson were also concerned about a “potential further escalation of current tensions in the Jewish/Israeli communities”.

At a budget estimates hearing on Tuesday,NSW Deputy Premier Prue Car admitted she was not briefed as acting premier by police about the pro-Palestinian rally before the protest went ahead.

Prue Car answering questions at Senate estimates about protests at the Opera House on October 9 when she was acting NSW premier.Credit:Janie Barrett

The rally attracted international attention when hundreds of protesters walked from Town Hall to the Opera House,yelling antisemitic chants and burning Israeli flags.

Under questioning by opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Mitchell,Car said she was not briefed about the rally in the hours leading up to the event and did not discuss it with Premier Chris Minns or Police Minister Yasmin Catley. “I was not briefed about what was planned to occur that evening,” she said.

The documents released to parliament do not state whether police raised their concerns with either the premier or Catley’s office. TheSydney Morning Herald has contacted both for comment.

However,text exchanges on the Sunday before the protest show that Hudson planned to “speak to the minister” about “any increased tension in the community this action[lighting the sails] may cause”.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has repeatedly defended the decision to light the sails of the Opera House in the colours of the Israeli flag despite concerns raised by senior police.Credit:Jessica Hromas

“The commissioner is concerned the government’s decision to light the Opera House may cause us some additional problems in the community and is seeking an assessment on any additional threat it may cause,” Assistant Commissioner Scott Cook wrote in a text to a colleague.

Minns has repeatedly defended the decision to light up the Opera House,but apologised to members of Sydney’s Jewish community after they wereadvised stay away from the city for their own safety. That advice prompted criticism of both Catley and the NSW Police.

But the documents reveal police were only told of the plan shortly before it was announced to the public,and scrambled to deal with the fallout of the decision.

In the 6.10pm email on Sunday,McDonald requested an “urgent threat assessment” of “what the impact/risk of lighting sails at 7pm tomorrow evening may mean”.

Despite McDonald believing the lighting up decision had been provided to police by the premier’s office “in confidence”,14 minutes later another officer,Detective Sergeant Benjamin Whitmore,replied to say “FYI,the news just reported that the sails would light up tomorrow night so the cat’s out the bag there”.

Police,however,were internally concerned about the decision,and reported receiving intelligence that members of the Palestinian community were “incensed” by the move.

In an email,officer Bradley Johnston,the head of the force’s Engagement and Hate Crime Unit,said that during a conversation with a member of the pro-Palestinian movement he had been informed that “the Opera House is now the location for the protest … the reason for the move is the sails of the Opera House being lite (sic) up”.

“That is a significant concern for the Palestinian Community and they are incensed by that decision.”

The documents also show members of Sydney’s Muslim community contacted to police in the lead up to the protest raising concern the decision to light the sails “will escalate community tensions”.

With Lucy Carroll

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