Cost of policing Palestine rallies 'cannot be provided'

A war of words is being fought over the cost of policing weekly pro-Palestine rallies as the protests march on.

NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley said an "accurate cost cannot be provided" when asked about the total spent policing pro-Palestine events.

"Community safety and the policing of protests are considered core policing activities funded under the global NSW Police Force budget," the minister said in responses to supplementary questions from recent budget estimates hearings.

They contradict Premier Chris Minns' earlier calculation of more than $5 million over about a year.

"It's at least $5 million in 2024, but that doesn't include overtime or sunk costs," he told 2GB Radio in October 2024.

Greens MP Sue Higginson, who asked the questions of Ms Catley, said the government was misleading the public by not getting its answers straight.

"Premier Chris Minns has used the costs of policing protest to justify his attacks on democracy and protest in NSW," she told AAP.

"Police don't even know how much their policing of protest costs."

She also questioned over-reporting associated with Operation Shelter, established two years ago to track anti-Semitic and Islamophobic incidents.

Mr Minns used the phrase "the summer of racism" after a string of racist graffiti and firebombings targeted Jewish Australians, saying there were 700 anti-Semitic incidents.

But police later revealed there were 367 anti-Semitic incidents entered into the database, with a further admission in October that 38 entries were duplicated.

Ms Higginson described the selective use of figures as "Trumpian", eroding public trust by spreading misinformation.

A spokesman for the premier echoed Ms Catley's responses noting facilitating demonstrations falls within "core policing activities."

NSW Council of Civil Liberties president Timothy Roberts said policing costs were also being deployed as a cudgel when taxpayers foot the bill for exorbitant legal fees for rushed laws.

"The premier has a real gall to be opposing these protests on the basis of their costs when he has ... cost taxpayers an incredible fortune in fighting cases for passing laws that are unconstitutional," he told AAP.

Earlier in October, tough anti-protest powers preventing protesters from marching near places of worship were tossed out by the NSW Supreme Court.

The laws, rushed through parliament in February, were deemed unconstitutional.

Mr Roberts slammed Mr Minns for creating an adversarial environment for demonstrators to exercise their democratic rights which emboldens police actions.

"The premier has infused a rhetoric that started with terrorism ... and he sets a tone for police ... that protest is opposed."