Huge rally in Melbourne CBD against vax mandate, pandemic laws
Protesters took over city streets on Saturday to rally against the Andrews government’s jab mandate and proposed pandemic laws.
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Thousands of ‘freedom protesters’ marched through Melbourne’s CBD on Saturday, rallying against the state government’s proposed pandemic laws and vaccine mandates.
The rally kicked off at the State Library about noon before the group made their way down Bourke Street, heading for Parliament House.
Protesters chanted “kill the bill” and “sack Dan Andrews” with many brandishing Australian flags and placards.
On the steps of parliament a man addressed the crowd, chanting “we stand up” to cheers from the audience.
“We are here because we demand the rights to our own god damn body,” he said.
Police blocked off Bourke Street at the Exhibition Street intersection.
Small numbers of officers flanked protesters on Spring and Bourke Street.
Thousands of protesters have gathered at Parliament steps calling for an end to vaccine mandates and rallying against the government’s proposed pandemic laws. @theheraldsunpic.twitter.com/M1HNkWpxu7
— Miles Proust (@MilesProust) November 6, 2021
Mentions of Premier Daniel Andrews or chief health officer Brett Sutton were met with boos from the crowd.
Officers and mounted police stood in a line guarding parliament.
The animated audience was made up of a mix of families, young couples and elderly Victorians.
Few masks were in sight, with some waving Australian flags held upside down – symbolising the country was in distress.
Others held Eureka and Trump flags.
The Australian anthem was played through speakers, with protesters joining in chorus.
A woman sang “I am, you are, we are Australian” with the audience singing in tune.
The crowd broke into loud cheers when the rendition was finished.
Protesters held signs reading “Human rights are non-negotiable, sorry about that Dan”, “Hault the assault on human rights” and “Dan next”.
Others beat drums and shook maracas.
Speeches wrapped up at 2.40pm, with organisers vowing to protest every week until vaccine mandates and the proposed pandemic laws were scrapped.
The crowd, numbering in the thousands, began marching down Bourke Street towards Swanston St.
The protest comes just a week after more than 3000 people rallied in the city with organisers vowing to rally “every week” until industry wide vaccine mandates are scrapped.
In a statement Victoria Police said they were aware of protest activity planned in the city on Saturday.
“There will be a highly visible police presence to ensure there are no breaches of the peace and the community is safe,” the statement said.
GIANT ‘BURNING’ KOALA AT CLIMATE RALLY
Climate activists converged at St Kilda’s Catani Gardens on Saturday to hold a “funeral march” for a four-metre tall smouldering puppet koala.
Extinction Rebellion activists have been collaborating with two art design and construction companies to produce the koala, named Blinky, and submit it to a mock burning.
While emitting smoke from its head, the part-skeleton puppet could be heard screeching out in pain to “represent the terror our animals are facing in the climate emergency”.
The mechanical marsupial – weighing half a tonne – was mounted on a buggy and manoeuvred through the garden, while moving its head and arms.
Extinction Rebellion Australia said in a tweet that both koalas and humans face a risk of extinction, “exasperated by the failure of governments to take the emergency action that is so desperately needed”.
🚨🨠CODE RED FOR KOALAS AND HUMANS ðŸ¨ðŸš¨@XR_Vic rebels are holding a funeral march for a four-metre tall burning koala, Blinky. This spectacular & disturbing creature, is part distressed koala, part skeleton. As you can see, they are emitting smoke, and is loudly crying in pain pic.twitter.com/HdtCvpOq8z
— Extinction Rebellion Australia (@XRebellionAus) November 6, 2021
“Billions of native animals, including roughly 60,000 koalas, were killed, injured or displaced by catastrophic bushfires in 2019/2020,” it said in a tweet.
More than 100 activists attended the “funeral march”, some banging drums and waving flags brandishing the Extinction Rebellion logo.
Climate activist Jane Morton said we were approaching the “point of no return for out of control warming and billions of deaths”.
“Today we are conducting a funeral, but in the weeks that come we will be back on the streets,” Ms Morton said.
“Mass civil disobedience is now our last and best chance.”
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