Protesters confront Tony Abbott event attendees, labelling them ‘pedophiles’

A father and his 12-year-old daughter were among those confronted by protesters who labelled attendees to a Geelong library event “pedophiles” on Thursday night.

Protesters out the front of the Tony Abbott book event at Geelong library.

Dramatic scenes unfolded on Little Malop St as attendees to an event where former prime minister Tony Abbott discussed his latest book were labelled “pedophiles” by protesters upon entry.

A group of about 30 protesters – some waving the Aboriginal, Palestinian and rainbow flags – positioned themselves in front of the Geelong library on Thursday evening ahead of an event that saw the former prime minister discuss his recently released book, “Australia: A History”.

One protester who was carrying an Aboriginal flag filmed attendees and said to people heading in: “Enter here if you love pedophiles.”

Multiple attendees took issue with this, with police having to ask the agitator to move back a number of times.

“F--- off,” one attendee responded.

Protesters waved the Aboriginal, Palestinian and rainbow flags.

Chris Howlett and his 12-year-old daughter were among more than 200 attendees.

Mr Howlett described the protesters’ behaviour as intimidatory, particularly towards a young girl who just wanted to meet a former prime minister.

“As we got to the door they moved in closer and were saying ‘shame, shame, shame’,” he said.

“When we got in she (daughter) was very quiet, a little bit shaky … she’s just a young person who doesn’t know what their problem is.”

Tony Abbott's book “Australia: A History”.

Rally speakers outlined Mr Abbott’s controversial history with Geelong unions, Indigenous groups, queer communities and his close friendship with the late Catholic cardinal George Pell as reasons for their protest.

“Racism, misogyny and support for paedos is hate speech not free speech,” one sign read.

Attendees lining up.

“Abbott is a: racist, misogynist, defends pedos and he has really crappy friends,” read another sign.

The same sign featured images of Mr Abbott with US Vice President JD Vance, One Nation senator Pauline Hanson, and the late right-wing US political activist Charlie Kirk.

Some local councillors attended, including Rowan Story and Ron Nelson – the latter receiving a not-so-warm welcome from the crowd outside.

“I’m proud of our right to peaceful protest, but what happened last night wasn’t peaceful,” Mr Nelson said.

“A consistent group of ‘professional’ protesters who spew vile vitriol at every day residents, calling them ‘pedophiles’ and ‘f---wits’ for going to the local library is not peaceful.

“These sanctimonious individuals are using the guise of ‘protesting’ to indulge their deep rooted desire to bully and abuse members of our community.”

Mr Abbott chose not to directly refer to the protesters after they were mentioned by host, the Institute of Public Affairs’ Margaret Chambers.

He instead explained how he had approached the early history of Anglo-Indigenous relations in the book.

“It was a story of partnership, as well as confrontation,” he said.

“The early settlers could not have done what they did in what to them was a strange country without the Aboriginal companions and guides they had.”

Tony Abbott speaks inside the library.

When the event was announced earlier this month, a number of local activist groups vented their anger online at the library for hosting the event.

In an email to staff following the “strong feedback”, Geelong Regional Libraries chief executive Vanessa Schernickau said a priority of the organisation was to provide access to a range of perspectives “in these times of increasing polarity”.

“As public discourse becomes increasingly binary, we have a pivotal role in ensuring different voices can be heard, hopefully by those who are curious and have open minds,” she wrote in an email to staff.

A library spokeswoman on Friday said the organisation did not condone disrespectful or abusive language directed towards any community members.

Former Geelong councillor Sarah Hathway took to Facebook following the event to thank those who protested.

“What’s next for Geelong Regional Libraries?” she asked.

“Will they platform a holocaust denier for the sake of having a ‘balanced debate’? What a disgrace.”

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Originally published as Protesters confront Tony Abbott event attendees, labelling them ‘pedophiles’