Christine Forster’s jacket ripped apart by protesters
“FERAL” protesters from the Greens have been blamed for violent scenes that erupted outside a Tony Abbott fundraiser on Friday night.
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TONY Abbott has criticised the “disgraceful behaviour” of protesters after violent scenes erupted at his Sydney fundraising event on Friday night.
Several hundred protesters outside the event in Redfern confronted invited guests, including Mr Abbott’s sister Christine Forster, whose jacket was ripped as she struggled through the crowd.
Ms Forster was forced back from the entrance until police formed a ring around her and pushed their way through the crowd.
Mr Abbott criticised the actions of protesters and defended his sister on Twitter on Saturday morning.
“Disgraceful behaviour by protesters last night. Denying Australians’ real rights to uphold the supposed rights of boat people,” one tweet said. “My sister is herself a brave campaigner for rights and should never have been assaulted.”
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton also attended the fundraising event, but both he and Mr Abbott managed to elude protesters and were not seen entering the venue.
One protester was pushed over by a man arriving at the fundraiser, before police were able to intervene.
Mr Dutton described the protesters as “ferals” on Twitter.
— Peter Dutton (@PeterDutton_MP) November 11, 2017
NSW police confirmed at least three people had been arrested during the protest. Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon, who was at the protest, defended the protesters and said the refugees on Manus Island needed to be evacuated.
“What was full-on was the police, the police have mishandled tonight,” Ms Rhiannon told AAP.
“We’re here standing with the 600 men on Manus Island, I’m angry, so many people are angry.”
Ms Forster was forced back from the entrance until police formed a ring around her and pushed their way through the crowd.
In the fray, Ms Foster’s jacket was torn apart. The City of Sydney councillor’s partner, Virginia Edwards, posted an image of the damage on Facebook.
Ms Edwards captioned it: “Physically shredding the jacket of off someone’s back is NOT how you express your political in viewpoint in Australia.” She added the hashtags “#shame” and “#unaustralian”.
Ms Forster and her former prime minister brother have been at loggerheads over the divisive same-sex marriage postal ballot. The openly gay local politician is a keen advocate for marriage equality while her conservative brother is one of its strongest public opponents.
The fundraiser was co-opted by protesters opposing Australia’s offshore refugee detention system.
Yesterday, Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek was ambushed by a protester who told her she should speak up about the situation at the Manus Island Detention Centre.
“You need to make a statement about the men on Manus Island. There are people that are going to die, Tanya,” the woman said to her.
Water, electricity and food supplies were cut to the detention centre more than a week ago.
The detention centre was closed after it was ruled that Australia’s detention of refugees and asylum seeks there was illegal and unconstitutional
The closure has left about 600 refugees who refuse to move to new buildings because they fear for their safety from locals and the Papua New Guinea navy.
Not-for-profit organisation Oxfam has described the conditions there as “horrific”.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has declined an offer from the New Zealand government to take the refugees, the majority of whom have been classified by the Australian government as legitimate refugees.
The Australian government policy is to refuse resettlement in Australia to anyone who tries to reach the mainland by boat.
Originally published as Christine Forster’s jacket ripped apart by protesters