Protesters employing ‘heightened tactics’ to disrupt Melbourne mining conference, CBD

Police say they’re dealing with “heightened tactics” from more than 11 groups of protesters who plan to cause chaos in Melbourne this week.

Protesters lined up outside a major mining conference this week plan to inflict “maximum disruption” on the Melbourne CBD this week, according to police.

A small number of protesters have gathered at Melbourne’s Convention Centre to form a blockade outside the International Mining and Resources Conference which began this morning.

The sight of protesters in Melbourne is nothing new — climate protesters caused chaos earlier this month — but police say more than 11 groups are involved and that they will be employing “heightened tactics”.

“There’s a significant protest activity aimed at causing maximum disruption … across the CBD and to Melburnians during the course of their daily routine,” North West Metro Region Acting Commander Tim Tully told reporters this morning.

Small group of protesters - maybe 150 - protesting outside Convention and Exhibition Centre against mining conference IMARC which starts tomorrow. They say today is just a warm up ahead of plans to blockade it tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/3bcJXEw0vY

— Paul Dowsley (@pauldowsley7) October 27, 2019

“We expect to see heightened tactics (different from) what we saw over the past months.”

Acting Commander Tully said thousands of people were expected to attend the conference throughout the week and they would likely be met with a heavy protester presence.

He said police were aware of a number of planned protests across the city but admitted others will catch them by surprise.

“We’ve reached out to the various protest groups over the past few months … I must admit it has been very frustrating the lack of engagement that we’ve had,” he said.

“That’s impacted our planning.”

Protesters chanting “can’t wipe the blood of your hands” outside the Exhibition & Convention Centre ahead of the IMARC conference this week. About 50 people have turned out so far. @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/JtAaqHHfoH

— Alanah Frost (@akfrost_) October 27, 2019

He urged those who did not have an urgent need to be in the CBD to avoid the area.

Outside the conference, protesters wrote messages on the concrete and held banners. In chalk, a sign reads: “System change not climate change. Blockade IMARC. Shut the mines down.”

The small number of protesters was dwarfed by the number of those who had planned to attend.

More than 1200 people said they were planning to attend on a Facebook event encouraging supporters to blockade the event.

Activists from Extinction Rebellion blocked traffic last week. Picture: Ellen Smith/AAP

The protests follow large-scale events at major Melbourne landmarks including Federation Square, Bourke Street Mall and Southern Cross Station.

The protests, many of which struck at peak hour, caused gridlock for commuters as protesters from Extinction Rebellion joined together to sit in the middle of major intersections.

Police responded to the mostly-peaceful protests. A number of protesters were arrested.

Acting Commander Tully said police would do their best to ensure the protests could be carried out safely but if protesters engaged in any unlawful activity police would respond swiftly.