Anti-lockdown protests a major flop as cold weather and big police presence deters attendees
Only a helpful of Freedom Rally protesters attended the multiple sites nominated for flash mob-style marches on Saturday. And those who did attend were significantly outnumbered by police.
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Just a handful of anti-lockdown protesters braved the bad weather to attend rallies organised across Melbourne on Saturday morning.
There was a heavy police presence in suburban parks throughout the morning and afternoon, including Catani Gardens in St Kilda, where dozens of officers were on patrol.
Plans for the rally at the beachside park were scuppered by police, who turned away protesters that showed up.
One maskless man, who arrived at Catani Gardens for the protest with a guitar, was arrested by police after he refused to leave the park despite several warnings.
He was handcuffed by police, who also placed a mask on his face, but was released after receiving a fine for breaching lockdown restrictions.
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, admitted that he had already been arrested three times and had received several other fines.
“I came here today to exercise my freedom and to hopefully gather with some people within my 5km radius and try to abide by some of the rules, even though I don’t agree with them,” he said.
“I feel like our rights have been taken away. I’m not necessarily one who doesn’t believe in the virus - I’m just looking at the numbers. There are only a few active cases in a state of six million people and we’re all locked up in our homes.
“I was stopped seven times and asked to provide ID. They arrested me because they don’t believe I was out for exercise”
Anti-lockdown protesters vowed to “do something a bit different” ahead of taking to the streets for the fourth consecutive weekend.
Following last Saturday’s feeble three minute protest at Chadstone shopping centre, organisers tried to make the protests more accessible by holding them across multiple locations in metropolitan Melbourne.
The Herald Sun can reveal the locations included:
ATHERTON GARDENS - FITZROY
CATANI GARDENS - ST KILDA
TIM NEVILLE ARBORETUM - FERNTREE GULLY
FOOTSCRAY PARK - FOOTSCRAY
PAVEY RESERVE - NEWPORT
PRINCES PARK - CARLTON
MARKHAM RESERVE - ASHBURTON
WATTLE PARK - BURWOOD
BURNLEY PARK - BURNLEY
HEMMINGS PARK - DANDENONG
The flash mob style protests are set for 11am on Saturday and attendees have been instructed to sing popular Australian anthem ‘You’re the Voice’ by John Farnham upon arrival.
“Prisoners get more freedom than free Victorians do,” a protest organiser said on an encrypted message thread.
“Rallies will never be cancelled until all coronavirus restrictions end.
“Don’t wait til JobKeeper ends to raise your voice. We need to speak out louder than ever before.”
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