By Lachlan Abbott, Rachael Dexter, Alex Crowe, Cassandra Morgan and Sherryn Groch
Police blocked off roads, patted down anti-war protesters and inspected bags outside a weapons expo in Melbourne during subdued demonstrations a day after violent clashes erupted between protesters and police.
A lone protester was the first on scene on Thursday morning, holding a silent vigil in front of police and waiting media outside the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on day two of the Land Forces International Land Defence Expo.
Police are braced for more protests outside the weapons expo in Melbourne.Credit: Eddie Jim
Soon after, about 100 protesters marched down Spencer Street from Southern Cross Station, partly blocking Flinders Street as scores of police watched on.
Chants of “free, free Palestine”, and, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” echoed through the streets.
Protesters blocked traffic on Flinders Street, prompting police to blare their sirens in an attempt to move the group along to Spencer Street Bridge.
The group then turned down Flinders Street and marched along the road towards Melbourne Aquarium.
City roads remain closed from the Spencer and Flinders Street intersection to the corner of Clarendon Road and City Road in Southbank.
The convention centre is also blocked off, with dozens of police stationed outside as attendees arrived on Thursday. A new barricade was set up at the foot bridge near the Polly Woodside.
On Spencer Street Bridge, mounted police, uniformed officers and Australian Federal Police formed a major barricade to prevent protesters from getting close to the convention centre. NSW police officers were also stationed along the bridge.
Police used a metal-detecting wand to scan passers-by for weapons and searched bags on Thursday morning.
Police return to guard the Land Forces International Land Defence Exposition on Thursday.Credit: Eddie Jim
South of the convention centre, police searched backpacks and pockets. An officer told the crowd anyone wearing a face covering must leave the area.
One protester, a young man who asked not to be named, said he had been searched three times in 15 minutes.
“I don’t know if it’s my presence alone, if it’s my height because I am a tall fella, but I’ve been searched about three times and I’ve got nothing on me,” he said.
The young man claimed he was patted down, questioned repeatedly and ordered to “stop eyeballing” police.
“I said, ‘I’m allowed to do that because that’s very legal’. They’ve just been real aggressive for some reason,” he said.
At 9.15am, the protesters confronted a wall of dozens of police officers and horses in Southbank outside Crown Casino, just across the road from the weapons expo.
A man with a megaphone spoke as a demonstrator beside him waved a Palestinian flag.
“We are not cowards like you, like Albanese, like the media,” the man said.
One protester was involved in a physical confrontation with members of the media. The demonstrator accusing the television network’s security guard of assaulting him.
“Don’t f—ing come in here and agitate people,” one man yelled at a reporter.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the police ring of steel, lobbyists, weapons makers and military officials are perusing the wares at the Land Forces International Land Defence Expo on day two at the convention centre.
A highlight on the day’s agenda was the Australian Army’s symposium. Chief general Simon Stuart AO said the recent defence strategic review rightly demanded more than just a rethink of military tactics but its culture too, as a profession trusted to fight Australia’s wars.
“It should not surprise anyone in this audience when I observe that we must do more to reflect on the sufficiency of our professional standards,” he said, adding that “the long shadow of Afghanistan” now lay over any army transformation.
The army needed to put steel into the foundations of its culture, he said, so it does not fracture under the pressure of combat.
Outside, the relatively peaceful scenes were a marked departure from the violence that flared on day one of the expo.
In ugly scenes on Wednesday, anti-war protesters targeting the three-day conference pelted police with horse faeces, rocks, eggs, beer bottles, tomatoes, canned food and a mild acid.
Under Victoria’s Control of Weapons Act, the chief commissioner can designate a zone in which police can search people without a warrant for a limited period of time.
Police use pepper spray on protesters.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Victoria Police defended their use of force, responding with foam bullets, stun grenades, tear gas and pepper spray to quell the at-times chaotic crowd.
Police Minister Anthony Carbines said officers had used extreme restraint.
“I think it would be naive to think that if you’ve got yourself caught up in troubles down there, then you’ve probably put yourself in the wrong place. Take responsibility for those actions. Peaceful protest is always welcome and supported in our state.
“But if you found yourself caught up in what we saw yesterday, I think you’ve only got yourself to blame.”
On Wednesday, mounted police forced protesters back to Spencer Street, where they set bins and rubbish on fire.Credit: Chris Hopkins
He said the government was looking at expanding the use of designated areas in which police have greater powers to search and remove people.
Carbines said further arrests could be made once footage of the protests had been reviewed.
Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating reports of acid thrown at officers.
Carbines called on members of the public to thank officers for their work after “a tough day on the beat”.
“I’d urge all Victorians, when they see a member of Victoria Police, to thank them, to give them a thumbs up and tell them that they have Victoria’s support for their restraint.”
The Police Association of Victoria blasted Wednesday’s scenes as “some of the most violent” protests officers have seen in decades.
“And since the World Economic Forum, we haven’t seen people bring this, for no apparent reason, to the police,” union boss Wayne Gatt told 3AW breakfast radio on Thursday morning.
“That’s confronting when you hear that from such experienced police officers who do demonstrations and deal with peaceful protests pretty much as their day job.”
Gatt said Wednesday’s turnout was “overwhelmingly” people looking for a fight rather than standing for a cause, and any cause was lost in their actions.
“They wouldn’t be coming with their faces covered. They wouldn’t be coming with goggles on. They wouldn’t be coming armed with weapons, rocks, bottles and the like, [or] liquid to throw at the police,” Gatt said.
“You don’t do that because you’re genuinely interested in anti-war or peace. You do that because you want to promote and proliferate violence.”
Human rights and legal groups called on the Victorian government to ban the use of “dangerous police weapons” during protests, releasing a statement after Wednesday’s violence claiming independent legal observers had been subjected to pepper spray and stun grenades, and charged by police horses.
The Australian Democracy Network said it was deeply concerned by reports that police had used OC (Oleoresin Capsicum) Spray against protesters lying on the ground and complying with police orders, and allegedly riding police horses into protesters.
An anti-war protester is shot by a rubber bullet on Wednesday.Credit: Christopher Hopkins
“The use of dangerous police weapons at protests escalates tensions and risks breaching Victoria Police’s human rights obligations,” campaigner Anastasia Radievska said on Thursday.
The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service Co-operative said the right to protest was at the heart of Australia’s democracy and was protected under the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities.
In a statement, VALS said it had serious concerns about Victoria Police’s response to the “anti-war demonstration” on Wednesday.
“Police violence and brutality towards those exercising their right to have their voices heard is unacceptable,” VALS said.
“We understand at least one complaint has been made to IBAC in respect of Victoria Police’s misconduct.
“We urge IBAC to thoroughly investigate all complaints of police misconduct arising out of the Land Forces public demonstration, and to hold Victoria Police to account for any violations of human rights.”
Disrupt Land Forces – a conglomerate protest group leading the action – is calling for an end to weapons sales to Israel and an arms embargo.
In a statement published on social media, the group said: “Butyric acid, a food additive made from dairy products, was also deployed.
“[Police] have attacked us with blows, kicks, and boots on our throats, tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets.”
Police estimated 1500 protesters were outside the expo on Wednesday, well short of the 20,000 expected. Forty-two protesters were arrested, while 27 police officers required medical attention.
Protesters lit fires in bins and set up barricades, mainly around the Spencer Street Bridge on the CBD’s edge, as mounted police and armed officers dressed in riot gear stood opposite to prevent access to the convention centre.
On Wednesday afternoon, Chief Commissioner Shane Patton lashed the behaviour of some of the protesters, calling them hypocrites for attending the rally with an intention, he alleged, to cause violence.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Jacinta Allan both condemned the actions of violent protesters.
Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell called for an independent inquiry into police behaviour at the rally, particularly over the use of pepper spray. The chief commissioner rejected the idea, calling it rubbish.
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