NSW police have used pepper spray, helicopters, horses, and blockades as part of a new program designed to bring the community together. Speaking in front of an armoured vehicle labeled ‘Community Engagement’, a NSW Government spokesperson said community harmony took many forms.

“Sometimes it’s forcibly removing people who are praying. Other times it’s punching people while they have their hands behind their back. There's no single right answer for what togetherness looks like”.

To assist with cohesion, police deployed pepper spray, a substance experts say is particularly effective at uniting crowds in the shared experience of eye-watering pain. “Nothing brings people together like coughing simultaneously. That’s community,” the spokesperson said.

The Government rejected criticism that the new social cohesion measures were restricting free speech. “Not at all. We celebrate free expression – provided that the expression is silent, pre-approved and happening somewhere else. That’s what community cohesion is all about. Robust democracy, tightly controlled”.