Brawling anti-immigration protesters cause chaos in the CBD as police make six arrests
A group of neo-Nazis stormed an Indigenous camp in Kings Domain on Sunday after a day of pro-Palestine and anti-immigration protests brought chaos to Melbourne’s CBD.
neo-Nazis stormed an Indigenous camp in King Domain on Sunday following violent clashes between several protest groups throughout Melbourne’s city streets on Sunday.
Footage shows a large group of men, dressed in black, running towards Camp Sovereignty — a sit-in protest near Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens — tearing down the groups Aboriginal flags as activists scream for them to leave.
Footage shows the group, which included prominent neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell, stomping on the Aboriginal flag, throwing logs and chanting.
Police are seen arriving about 10 minutes into the 16-minute long Facebook video. Victoria Police said it was investigating the attack.
On Monday, Deputy Premier Ben Carroll said he was appalled by the attack on the Indigenous camp.
“It just goes to show the level of ignorance that we’re dealing with,” he said.
“The people that attend a march against immigration would then go and attack a camp and destroy a flag of the first inhabitants of our country.
“These people are our indigenous people.”
The attack on Camp Sovereignty came at the end of a day of chaos in the CBD, with rubber bullets and stun grenades were used by police to stop violence between anti-immigration protesters and pro-Palestinian demonstrators, with the city centre severely disrupted again.
Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe — whose uncle Krautungalung Elder Robbie Thorpe established the camp — called for the attack to be investigated as a hate crime.
“Yesterday’s violent and vicious attacks are an act of terror against Aboriginal people in this country,” she said.
“This was an unprovoked, co-ordinated Nazi attack on Aboriginal people. These thugs violently assaulted community members, including young women, in what was clearly a racially motivated attack. It must be investigated as a hate crime.”
“Right-wing extremism is the biggest threat to this country, and yet police did not follow the neo-Nazi protesters to Camp Sovereignty, and didn’t interfere in their violent attacks, nor did they seem to arrest anyone afterwards.”
Earlier on Sunday, thousands of people, many donning Australian flags, swarmed Flinders Street Station and state parliament as part of a nationally organised March for Australia protest that was condemned by political leaders as racist.
During the afternoon, parts of Melbourne’s CBD were shut down as Victoria Police battled to contain protesters engaged in violent clashes, with six protesters arrested and expected to face charges.
Sewell featured prominently throughout the march, addressing thousands on the steps of parliament to a chorus of cheers from rally-goers.
Mounted divisions and riot police were busy separating duelling protesters as the anti-immigration advocates marched from Flinders St to Spring St just after noon.
Violent skirmishes between anti-immigration and pro-Palestinian protesters were witnessed throughout the city, with people exchanging blows, throwing eggs, bottles of water and balloons filled with liquid at each other.
On Monday, Victoria Police confirmed that 12 people were arrested at the protests, including seven people for charges including assaulting police, and five people who behaved in a “riotous manner”.
Police conducted 135 searches for weapons at the protest and deployed a range of “tactical” techniques to control the crowds.
“Police also had to use a range of tactical options including OC spray, baton rounds and public order munitions to prevent violence between protesters, some of whom were intent on creating conflict and violence,” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.
Two officers were injured by bottles that were thrown at them.
“There is absolutely no place for any of this violent and disruptive behaviour in Victoria and the priority for police was to separate opposing groups and prevent breaches of the peace.”
Police also confirmed that Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit detectives are investigating the attack on Camp Sovereignty.
They urged anyone with footage or who attended the event to contact police.
Sikh Interfaith Council of Victoria chairman Jasbir Singh Suropada said he was puzzled by the anti-immigration protest as his multicultural community was “full of proud Aussies”.
“I’m from Singapore but I proudly fly the Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flag,” he said.
“We work hard, we pay the same taxes, we buy coffees from Aussie-owned cafes, I go to the same Coles or Woolies, face the same cost of living challenges and we carry our weight in the business community.
“Maybe we can’t booze because it’s not in our religion but we BBQ, we go to the beach.”
A community of volunteers, he said Australian Sikhs were “peace loving, resilient, and law-abiding citizens.”
“These protests are not the Australian way of life,” he said.
Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria chief executive Farah Farouque said the ‘March for Australia’ rally was “fuelled by misinformation” and had shaken multicultural communities.
“We live in uncertain times, but migrants aren’t responsible for the cost of living,” she said.
“In fact, research shows our skilled migrants help the budget bottom line because they pay more in taxes than they take in services.
“We can have a debate about migration levels but let it be based on facts, not hate.
“It’s not who we really are as Australians: almost all of us are here due to migration.”
Government condemns protesters as ‘absolute grubs’
Police Minister Anthony Carbines had earlier condemned the anti-immigration rally, which Sewell spoke at.
“Those who seek to protest today under the cover of some protest about immigration are just grubs. Absolute grubs,” he said.
“We know what they’re there for. They’re there to promote hate in the community, to blame people for their gripes and their complaints and their whinges, and they’re just unhinged grubs.”
Opposition Leader Brad Battin also hit out at the march, calling the anti-immigration protesters “racist”.
“Any person who is protesting in Melbourne, who is there for the reason of saying that we are anti-immigration … they are just racists,” Mr Battin said.
On Monday he renewed calls for the introduction of a protest registration system and new “move-on” laws.
“We cannot have it ever again in this state where someone who is a declared neo-Nazi has the opportunity to stand on the stairs of parliament and address a crowd,” he said.
“This culture has to change and the only way to change that is to give the Victoria Police the powers to have a registration system in the state and to ensure the move-on laws are in place to protect businesses and to keep Victoria safe.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the involvement of neo-Nazi’s in the march.
“The idea that an open neo-Nazi was able to give a speech from the steps of the Victorian parliament is something that is not the Australian way,” he said.
“We are a modern country that has benefited from our multiculturalism… and we are enriched by the diversity of this country.”
Asked if he thought the turnout was driven by ‘economic grievance’, Mr Albanese said, “They weren’t vast numbers in the grand scheme of things”.
“There will always be people who say, ‘My lot in life could be better, and it’s because of people who don’t look like me.”
Mr Albanese said the situation was also inflamed by social media.
“What has occurred now is it’s much easier to organise through social media platforms and easier as well for people to have their views reinforced, often by things that aren’t fact.
“Our net overseas migration is actually falling; it fell substantially in 2024.”
Mr Albanese conceded there, “would have been good people who went along… but you should have a look at who you are with and the motivation that they have… it’s not about housing or the economy or anything else; it’s about sowing division.”
Mr Albanese also condemned the attack on Camp Sovereignty, an Indigenous gathering place in Kings Domain.
“They say they are against migration; well, the First Australians were here before any migrants.
“That kind of violence just has no place.”
Mr Albanese’s comments came hours after opposition leader Sussan Ley addressed the rally in the parliament.
Speaking in Question Time, Ms Ley equated the infiltration of the anti-immigration march by members of the neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network to the display of terrorist flags by pro-Palestine demonstrators in recent months.
“People of goodwill have been at demonstrations, but their voices have been consistently hijacked by those glorifying terrorism, which can never be accepted,” she said.
“This past weekend, rallies occurred across Australia, attended by people of goodwill, but hijacked by violent neo-Nazis espousing hate and racism...That can never be accepted.”
Ms Ley also said “there had been multiple failures of government to keep our community safe and together,” but added, “The Coalition stands ready to work with the government to repair our social cohesion”.
“The Prime Minister must show that leadership now.”
Sewell addressed the crowd as the final speaker, engaging in a divisive and racially charged speech, encouraging those in attendance to join the nation’s “fight for survival”.
Sewell opened his address by acknowledging that he and his cronies in the National Socialist Network were “a controversial and antagonistic group”.
“I’m aware of that, and I’ve copped a lot of hate for it, and so have my men, but today, we had to prove a point,” he said.
He continued by saying “proud”, “true” and “thoroughbred” Australians were in a struggle for life to maintain the existence of the nation.
“If we allow ourselves to be replaced and displaced in this land, if we do not maintain our demographics, if we do not stop immigration, then our death is certain.”
At the corner of Swanston and Little Collins streets, several men with Australian flags draped over their backs attempted to burn a Palestinian-inspired keffiyeh.
As the men struggled to burn the cloth, another man tried to rip it from their hands.
In response, the protesters draped in Australian flags began physically assaulting the man, throwing him against a glass window before he collapsed to the floor.
Those arrested by police face charges ranging from assaulting police to attempted robbery and behaving in a riotous manner.
The heavy police presence, seen around the country, also attracted sickening remarks and quips about alleged cop killer Dezi Freeman, who remains on the run after allegedly shooting two officers in the state’s north east.
One protester in Adelaide was seen hoisting a sign with Freeman’s portrait and the words “Free Man” underneath.
In Melbourne, protesters taunted police by making reference to the tragic shooting at Porepunkah last week.
“You all have your body cams (cameras) on now, you didn’t at Porepunkah,” one man was heard yelling.
Another said: “They won’t have anyone looking for Dezi today, they’re all here.”
A Victoria Police spokesman said two officers were injured after they were struck by bottles thrown at them.
The CBD was disrupted for hours following the march, with businesses and bystanders often caught in the affray between protesters without warning.
Popular Melbourne pub Young and Jacksons, opposite Flinders Street Station, was forced to shut its doors as a result of the protest.
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