Source: 9news
The first protesters of the day have been arrested in Melbourne as police gear up to face a third straight day of mass gatherings.
A small number of protesters on Elizabeth Street were cuffed after police warned they were done playing “cat and mouse”.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews today decried the violent protest action across the Melbourne CBD in recent days as “appalling” and “unlawful”.
Mr Andrews said police will not hesitate to take action against those who acted violently and unlawfully amid threats of further action in Melbourne today.
“They’re not there to protests, they’re there for a fight, they are there to pretend to be protesting,” he said.
“What we saw yesterday is an insult, an insult, to the vast, vast majority of tradies or people in the building industry who are not about wrecking, they’re about building.
“Yesterday we saw 1000, 2000 people, many of whom behaved appallingly.”
The premier said there were few words that could adequately describe the ugly protest scenes of yesterday.
“Whether you want to call it a riot, a fray, ugly scenes, you can scarcely find a word to adequately describe what we saw yesterday,” Mr Andrews said.
“That’s why Victoria Police are not tolerating this.”Mr Andrews said the construction industry needed a “reset” due to high COVID-19 transmission and its lack of compliance with the rules.
The premier received advice that shutting down parts of the industry would have been “unsafe” and sparked an uproar at a localised level.
“There’s no campaign that’s going to get a run here to change these rules.”
Victoria Police have warned they will be “less tolerant” towards protesters threatening to gather for a third day after violent scenes across Melbourne.
Protesters are expected to take to the streets within a matter of hours after Melbourne was brought to a standstill by aggressive activists demanding a vaccine mandate for the construction industry be lifted yesterday.
Victoria Police arrested 62 people in the protests yesterday, with Chief Commissioner Shane Patton warning there would be no more “cat-and-mouse games” today.
“People who are contemplating coming in here today to protest – do not do so,” he said.
“You’re not going to be welcomed with open arms.”
A significant police presence and response has been prepared by police to stop protesters, Commissioner Patton said.
“We have significant tactics in place, we will be agile in our response, we will be very swift in our response and conduct as we have seen yesterday and the previous day will not be tolerated.”
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Rick Nugent earlier said officers would be better prepared to tackle any unfolding chaos, with their operational tactics shifting with the threat.
“One thing is for certain – we’ll be less tolerant than we were yesterday. We are better prepared and we’ll do what we need to do,” Deputy Commissioner Nugent told Today.
“We can’t continue this, we have to deal with this as quickly and as effectively as we can.”
‘Thugs’ take over: Police Minister
Victoria’s Police Minister Lisa Neville this morning described the protesters violently storming through Melbourne CBD as “thugs”.
Three police were injured in the violence yesterday.”That’s on top of the injuries we have seen over the weekend and the day before,” Ms Neville said.
“That’s just unacceptable. Our police officers turn up to work, they should be able to feel safe in doing that work on behalf of Victorians.
“Ms Neville said the protest action was a “slap in the face” to the Victorian community doing it tough in lockdown.
More than 500 police were on the ground responding to the protest action yesterday.
‘Fake tradies’ take over protest
Commissioner Patton said the protesters were a “mixed crowd”, some of whom were pretending to be tradespeople and connected to the Freedom Rally.
“We know from what we have been monitoring that people are being encouraged to put on high-vis gear, to put on workwear, to come in under the cover of a crowd,” he said.
Victoria Police will not reveal their tactics on tackling the protests today but assured officers will be out in full force.
“I want (the protesters) to be completely unaware of what we’re going to do and what capacity they may face,” Commissioner Patton said.
COVID-19 spreading due to construction non-compliance
Mr Andrews said the reason there was a vaccine mandate and now a two-week shut down in the construction industry was widespread transmission of COVID-19.
He said there are more cases in that sector than in aged care.
“I am gutted to have to shut this industry down but be in no doubt, there are 350 cases in construction, over 150 different sites during August and September,” Mr Andrews said.
“This is real. Unless we took this action, and unless we see compliance higher, then we’ll continue to see the spread of this virus and that puts everything at risk.”
The premier reiterated the “ugly scenes” from the protest did not define the entire construction industry.”
This sort of behaviour is unlawful, it’s ugly, it will not be tolerated, but I do think it’s important to say that the behaviour of a few should not be seen to cast aspersions or define an entire industry.”
There have been 337 coronavirus infections linked to 154 building sites across Victoria from August 5 to Monday.
Of these, 239 cases are linked to sites in metropolitan Melbourne. Nine of these cases live in regional Victoria. Seven construction sites are each linked to five or more cases.Overnight, Mr Andrews said “anger” won’t end the pandemic.
The Premier pleaded with people to do the right thing, pointing to the tireless work of healthcare workers throughout the pandemic.
The nurses’ union yesterday demanded protesters “to stop thinking only of themselves”.
“We are calling for common sense and voices of reason to prevail,” the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (Victoria branch) said in a statement.
“Nurses, midwives and carers are exhausted and frustrated as they watch protesters fight for their right to overwhelm our health system.”
Nurses have supported dying COVID patients only able to comfort their families via a screen.
“Do not leave all the heavy lifting to nurses, midwives and personal care workers.”
Shorten ‘sick’ over scenes
Former union leader Bill Shorten said he “felt sick” watching the scenes yesterday.
“I literally couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Mr Shorten told Today this morning.
“It’s gutless to attack the police doing their job. It’s gutless to carry on like this when the nurses and doctors are working so hard.”I didn’t recognise Melbourne. I thought this was like something out of Trump-land when they stormed the Capitol Building.”I never thought I would see this sort of lawlessness in my home town of Melbourne.”
Mr Shorten said he believed the thousands of demonstrators were made up of “opportunists looking for trouble” and not a significant number of those in the construction industry.
“If there are members of unions who are involved in this then they’re not trade unionists that I respect,” Mr Shorten said.
“The trade union movement that I have supported in the past does things peacefully and it does things for the collective good. This is a strike of the selfish.”If you want to be tough, if you want to be brave, roll up your sleeve and get an injection.”
