The premier of Australia's New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian, announced on Friday that the state has filed a legal appeal to stop a Black Lives Matter protest planned to take place in Sydney. The statement came as state's police commissioner claimed that the number of people expected at the protest had risen to 10,000.
Berejiklian said that the upcoming Sydney protest is "too large to go ahead" and expressed concerns that the protesters would not guarantee adherence to social distancing rules implemented amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"They could not guarantee safe social distancing and simply the number of protesters far exceeds - far exceeds - the health orders and we can’t afford to have exceptions for anybody", she said.
The upcoming Sydney protest scheduled for Saturday secured permission from the authorities because it plans to have fewer than 500 people.
"I’m asking, appealing and pleading with those thousands of people who’ve indicated they’re turning up to a protest - please, do not do it", Berejiklian begged.
The announcement followed remarks made by the Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrisson, who warned against "importing things that are happening overseas to Australia" commenting on hundreds of people marching through Sydney earlier on Tuesday over indigenous deaths and George Floyd's murder.
Morrisson, in a radio interview, noted that any attempt to prevent the protest "would jar with Australians, rightly", adding that "at the same time people have got to exercise responsibility".