Covid-19 Gold Coast: Anti-lockdown protesters return to NSW border for second week
Three people have been arrested and one charged with seriously assaulting a Queensland police officer during a second violent anti-lockdown clash on the NSW border. FULL STORY AND VIDEO
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Three people have been arrested and one charged with seriously assaulting a Queensland police officer during a second violent anti-lockdown clash on the NSW border.
The officer was allegedly attacked and injured while attempting to arrest the man in Coolangatta on the Queensland side of the border during the rally which lasted for an hour.
The crowd of 100 was just a fraction of the large-scale protest which saw more than 1000 people march against Covid-19 restrictions the previous weekend.
Protesters heckled police, saying they would be “held accountable” for their crimes.
Gold Coast police Acting Chief Superintendent Rhys Wildman said he was “extremely disappointed” in the actions of what he described as a small number of protesters.
“We had three arrests and one of those involved the serious assault on one of our police officers,” he said.
“An offender, a 39-year-old male from Queensland, has been charged with serious assault and obstruct police.
“The other two individuals arrested are having further action taken against them in relation to breaches of the chief health officer’s directions.”
Acting Chief Superintendent Wildman said all three people who had been charged were involved in the previous weekend’s protests.
He said investigations would be ongoing into “further Covid-related matters”.
A man on a loudspeaker could be heard shouting “Let him go” as police arrested the man.
“For your crimes they’re going to have a Nuremberg two in Australia and you’re all going to be held accountable for your crimes,” one man shouted at officers.
Another man was heard to yell “smoke weed. That’ll fix it” amid shouted protests about masks.
A plane overflew the border area carrying a banner reading “End lockdowns - Vote Liberal Democrat”.
Conservative figure John Ruddick tweeted an image of the banner, saying “I’m in the sky above Gold Coast/ Tweed Heads right now”.
Dozens of police were seen at Coolangatta on Sunday morning in anticipation of a repeat of last week’s protest gathered to vent their frustration at lockdowns.
Extra NSW police officers had been brought up to the border zone from as far away as Newcastle to bolster forces on the border which include both Queensland police and the Australian Defence Force.
Political leaders had urged protesters against a second rally following the wild scenes of the previous week, which included a man riding a horse.
It came as the political impasse over the push to move the NSW border to the Tweed river continued.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro on Saturday rejected the push but said he was prepared to work on a “proper border bubble”.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the state’s Disaster Commissioner Steve Gollschewski was meeting with NSW’s Deputy Premier on Sunday to discuss shifting the border to allow the Tweed community to coexist.
“Queensland has put it out there for NSW,” she said.
“I hope NSW can work with the Queensland Government here because it’s having an impact on families’ lives.”
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate called for an end to the bitter fighting: “Despite comments from the NSW Deputy Premier, I remain confident that commonsense can prevail”
“I believe at a premier-to-premier level, discussions remain ongoing,“ he said.
“We all anxiously await positive news on a possible ‘Covid Border’ shift.”
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