Fears of violence in Melb CBD this weekend as opposing protest groups set to clash
Melbourne faces a weekend of protest chaos, with its 100th pro-Palestine rally and clashes between radically opposed activist groups predicted. It comes as the huge cost of policing the city’s anti-Israel demonstrations is revealed.
Melbourne’s CBD will be shut down on Sunday by the city’s 100th pro-Palestinian rally as the Herald Sun can reveal the anti-Israel activists have diverted 23,000 policing shifts at a cost of up to $7m.
The city faces a weekend of chaos as protest groups – including the Free Palestine Coalition, Rally Against Racism, Save Australia and Australia Unites Against Government Corruption – also plan opposing rallies in the CBD on Saturday, prompting fears of violent clashes.
Business owners and workers on Friday said they feared their properties would be targeted by protesters if they spoke out about the disruptive and damaging nature of the weekly protests.
A CBD hospitality business owner, who wished to remain anonymous, said the impact of the protests was significant.
“We don’t know if we are going to get customers any day there is a protest,” they said.
“There’s two protests this weekend and I don’t know if it’s even worth opening at all. We have no idea if we will serve any customers because people just avoid the city whenever the protests take over.
“Enough is enough. We need support and the government to actually do something to reduce the impact on small businesses.”
The business owner said he was regularly worried about his cafe being damaged.
“All it takes is one idiot to throw a brick and then your whole business could get ransacked.”
Wendy Sarnto, who works at Mountfords shoe shop in Bourke St, said the protests had an impact on businesses.
“They slow trade,” she said.
The disruptive pro-Palestinian protests that have been held since Israel’s retaliation after the savage October 7 2023 Hamas attacks have required hundreds of police to be pulled from regular duties to monitor often angry crowds.
These police have been pulled from their regular duties and reassigned to crowd control and public safety.
Police sources revealed a $7m price tag for 23,000 shifts managing the protests.
Several hundred police will saturate the CBD this weekend but force command remain hesitant to reveal the true number.
The police presence is expected to include the mounted branch, highway patrol, critical incident and public order response teams.
The weekly anti-Israel protests on Sundays have caused mass disruption and severely affected the ability of many city businesses to trade.
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Melbourne chief executive Scott Veenker said the protests were costing taxpayers, too.
“The cost of policing these protests are running into the tens of millions of dollars,” he said.
“That’s money that should be going towards easing cost-of-living pressures, not managing repeated disruption.
“The impacts are significant and compounding. We’re talking about foot traffic grinding to a halt, restaurants cancelling bookings, retail taking a hit, staff not feeling safe to work and thousands of dollars in lost trade – week after week.”
It was a sentiment matched by Australian Restaurant and Cafe chief executive Wes Lambert.
“Ultimately these protests can be devastating to the restaurant and cafe segment,” he said. “Many may not open their doors at all which means they are losing one day a week.”
Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny warned violence at the protests would not be tolerated.
“Of course they have the right to protest peacefully, and that is my message,” she said.
“These protests are not the forum for getting out there and for disturbing businesses, and driving harm and violence.
“My message is really clear, do not go to these protests if that is what you intend to do. Protests are for peaceful protest, where we come together and deliver a message in a peaceful way.”
She added that police were well resourced and prepared.
Concerned that police do not have enough powers after Labor abolished move-on laws in 2015, the opposition has sought to introduce a Bill to overhaul laws and establish a protest registration scheme to help police manage rallies.
It would give the Supreme Court the power to ban problematic protesters from attending, or block protests from going ahead altogether – but it was blocked by the Allan government in August.
The Coalition has now reintroduced the Bill into the upper house and it will be debated in the coming weeks.
Opposition spokesman for police David Southwick said more needed to be done to stop the interruptions that were damaging the city’s economy and reputation.
“It has now been 270 days since Labor promised to strengthen protest laws, and they’ve done nothing,” Mr Southwick said.
“Labor continues to block proposals by the Liberals and Nationals to register protests, ban face coverings and give police the ‘move-on’ powers they need to keep the community safe.
“Doing nothing only emboldens extremists.”
Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece urged those who were thinking of attending a CBD protest to give it a miss.
“The level of disruption we are experiencing is having a serious impact on shopkeepers and the traders in our city,” he said.
“I’ve even had people approaching me this week from the churches in the city saying that congregations can’t properly get to their mass and church services.
“People are fed up, I am fed up …. People planning to come, I ask that you don’t. The harm you are causing is outdoing any good.”
Merging departments, slashing jobs won’t shrink state’s wages bill
