A circuit-breaker ban on all CBD protests has been proposed by a leading restaurateur to stop “troublemakers” from crippling the city before long-promised police powers to deal with extreme and radical demonstrators come into force.

Premier Jacinta Allan said Sunday’s violence – during which rocks were thrown at police – was an aberration, and she maintained that the city was safe.

The premier said the incident displayed a “different pattern of behaviour” to demonstrations that had become a constant weekend presence in the city, while defending the right of Victorians to protest peacefully and ruling out introducing protest permits.

“We’ve all had enough of some, a smaller number of people, who are choosing to bring violence to our streets,” she said on Monday.

Allan said that laws promised last December to help police combat “extreme and radical influences” at public protests – including a ban on face masks and terrorist flags and symbols – would be introduced to parliament next month.

The proposed changes, if supported, would not come into force until next year.

Leading Melbourne restaurateur Chris Lucas called on the state government to temporarily ban protests in Melbourne’s CBD, warning the city centre was “not safe” and weekly protests were hitting businesses and tourism.

“The weekly disruptions caused by protesters and troublemakers are having a negative impact on every element of our city,” he said.

“I call on the government today to announce a temporary ban on all protests in the Melbourne CBD until a full review can be taken that puts in place a new policy to deal directly with this crisis.”

Opposition leader Brad Battin, while not supportive of a blanket ban on CBD protests, said police should be given more powers to ban violent demonstrators from coming into the city.

“What we saw on the weekend with these extreme protesters who have decided to throw rocks at police is nothing short of a disgrace,” Battin said.

“When is enough enough? When is the premier not just going to call it out but act and get rid of this on our streets?”

Former premier Jeff Kennett said a city protest ban could be introduced through emergency legislation but it would have to be rigidly enforced to be effective.

“You can’t have an attack on crime if the person in charge of the state continues to say we don’t have a problem,” he said.

On Monday, Allan described the right to protest as a “very important tenant of our democratic society” but said it carried an obligation to do without putting others at risk.

Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities protests the right to peaceful assembly, which covers the right to protest. The government has previously debated internally whether this right could be limited to protect the countervailing rights of other people who want to access the city.

Lucas, whose CBD restaurants include Maison Batard, Chin Chin and Grill Americano, said a collapse in trade was affecting eateries across the city.

“Most shops, restaurants and cafes, along with other businesses, are seeing a drop-off of over 50 per cent from last year. This is unsustainable,” he said. “I have grave fears of many workers and small businesses that are suffering through no fault of their own.”

On Sunday, furious police accused dozens of counter-demonstrators from left-wing groups of instigating the violence and throwing rocks at officers during an hours-long effort to separate about 1000 of them from a similarly sized group of anti-immigration protesters.

Two officers – a female sergeant aged in her 40s and a male senior constable aged in his 30s – suffered serious injuries to their hand and leg after being hit with glass bottles.

Both have since been released from hospital and are expected to be off work for the next few weeks, police said.

A 30-year-old Brunswick woman who was arrested on Sunday has since been charged with one count of resisting police and bailed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on May 15.

Anti-racism rally organisers have refused to condemn the violence while accusing police of injuring their demonstrators and facilitating “racist” anti-immigration protests.

The Police Association of Victoria’s chief executive, Wayne Gatt, said officers would continue to be hurt as long as there was a “completely unregulated protest environment” in the state.

“That [a permit system] has always been our recommendation. It is one that has been rejected by the government,” Gatt told 3AW.

“We’re locked in this argument about human rights, and everybody’s got rights across the protests, and we agree. [But] the only people that didn’t have rights over the weekend were the people dressed in blue uniforms. That’s as I see it.”

Chief Commissioner Mike Bush has said previously that he does not support a push for a permit system in Victoria.

Allan said police had the tools they needed to deal with the protesters, dismissing the effectiveness of a permit system.

“I will repeat that yes, Melbourne’s CBD is safe,” she said. “And I think it would be wrong and misleading to conflate the behaviour of a very small number of people who came to the city to bring violence, and they were dealt with swiftly by Victoria police,” she said.

Commander Wayne Cheesman was irate when describing the attacks on officers by protesters. “Melbourne has had a gutful,” he said on Sunday.

Holding up a large rock, which he said had been thrown at police, Cheesman said: “It appals me, really. This could kill someone, that’s the bottom line.”

Counter-rally organiser Anneke Demanuele refused to condemn demonstrators who threw rocks.

“I’m not condemning anything. The better question to be asked is why did a police commander go out of his way to praise fascists, racist protesters,” she told 3AW.

Demanuele was quoted by the ABC as a spokesperson for the violent protests outside the Land Forces expo in Melbourne two years ago in which two dozen police were injured.

Some March for Australia demonstrators were heard on Sunday chanting racist slogans, including “white man fight back”, and were seen rushing to confront counter-protesters. The Age identified several members of the neo-nazi group National Socialist Network in the anti-immigration crowd, wearing plain clothes.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.