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The crowd at Sydney’s Town Hall on Monday night was fired up. Speeches had ended, and those there to protest against Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia – here on an invitation from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese following the deadly Bondi terror attack – were ready to march.
Police, given special powers by NSW Premier Chris Minns due to safety concerns, were there to stop them. Crushed up between a park bench, planter boxes on the floor and the wall of officers blocking protesters from moving towards Druitt Street, Sydney Morning Herald photographer Wolter Peeters had no way to escape when the rally descended into violence.
“I noticed one of the police officers pulling off the capsicum spray from his belt, and I wasn’t in a great position,” says Peeters. “I was trying to remove myself from that position, so I wouldn’t get directly sprayed, but I just couldn’t move.”
There is a three-minute gap in Peeters’ camera roll just after 7pm, which is when officers deployed capsicum spray. Eyes watering, he was completely overwhelmed, and it was difficult to breathe.
But Peeters was focused on recovering as quickly as possible so he – alongside reporters Jessica McSweeney and Riley Walter, and photographers Kate Geraghty and Dean Sewell – could continue documenting an event that is now being investigated by NSW Police’s watchdog, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.
“It’s just a matter of trying to drink as much water as I could and just clear my face … but once it’s on your skin, everything starts … you just get this tingling, burning on you,” says Peeters. He made sure not to rub his eyes, and when he got home, put all his clothes in the wash straight away.
Each week, The Sydney Morning Herald’s award-winning team of staff photographers contributors travels across the state, country and globe to document history as it happens, and hold those in power accountable.
This week, our newsroom captured the fallout from Herzog’s visit, Angus Taylor’s turfing of Sussan Ley in the Liberal Party room, and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s return to the Senate after her two-month suspension.
But we also made sure to document the joyful way of life that parliamentarians build and threaten. At times, this power seems to be lost in the theatrics.
Trainee photographer Audrey Richardson’s portrait from the world’s toughest mountain bike race in Tasmania, and multi-Walkley winner Kate Geraghty’s cheerful snaps from a Nyngan waterslide, are some that bring it back into focus.
Read on to see this week in pictures from our team of photographers.
With Bronte Gossling
Hear the story behind the headlines on The Morning Edition podcast, every weekday from 5am on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform.
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