Victoria Police get extra resources for anniversary protests as Allan rejects calls for new laws

Victoria Police will deploy more officers over the weekend and be given extra resources throughout October, as political leaders urged against timing pro-Palestinian vigils and protests with Monday’s anniversary of the October 7 attacks.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Jacinta Allan on Wednesday asked pro-Palestinian protesters not to demonstrate around the anniversary of the attacks saying it would be divisive.

Protesters march during a pro-Palestine rally for Gaza and Lebanon at the State Library of Victoria last week. Credit: AAPIMAGE

But Allan rejected calls from the state opposition calling for the introduction of a permit scheme similar to NSW, which could prevent such protests from being organised.

Police in NSW have taken court action to prevent pro-Palestine rallies from going ahead in Sydney this weekend, arguing their applications for protest permits should be rejected on public safety grounds.

Free Palestine Melbourne will hold a rally outside the State Library of Victoria on Sunday, October 6, to protest against “the ongoing Israeli occupation, genocide and crimes against humanity being committed against the Palestinian people for over 76 years”.

The protest marks almost one year since Hamas launched the October 7 attacks, which saw 1200 people killed in Israel and sparking the war in Gaza, where more than 40,000 people have been killed.

A second activist group, Free Palestine Coalition Naarm, will hold a vigil and a silent procession for Gaza on the evening of Monday, October 7.

A Victoria Police spokesperson said stopping the protests was not an option:“If a protest is lawful, we do not have the power to deny it from occurring.”

More officers will be deployed over the weekend, but police are not expecting a repeat of violent scenes outside an arms expo in Melbourne last month.

The anniversary and protests come amid a widening of the Middle East conflict, with Israel attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran launching missile strikes at Israel.

That has also sparked fresh debate about limits on protest after some attendees at rallies last weekend brandished flags and photographs supporting proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah.

A senior Victorian police officer with knowledge of preparations, but who was not authorised to speak publicly, said previous pro-Palestine rallies had been “well-behaved and usually very peaceful”.

He said the force would still be ready for any troublemakers.

“You’d expect a small, hardcore group might try to use the anniversary as an opportunity to stir up trouble. But we’ll be ready and we’re continuing to monitor the situation, and there probably will be extra resources diverted over the weekend,” the officer said.

The Age has been told officers received text messages on Wednesday advising them they would be on “stand-by” over the weekend.

A senior government source, speaking anonymously to discuss confidential matters, said extra police resources would also be available throughout October – a period with several significant holy days in the Jewish calendar. Rosh Hashanah runs from October 2 to 4, and Yom Kippur across October 11 and 12.

State Opposition Leader John Pesutto said the Allan government should consider stronger move-on laws and a NSW-style permit system.

“We live in a democracy that rests on vital principles like freedom of speech and the right to protest peacefully,” he said.

“Consideration should be given to a NSW-style permit system which protects free speech, but gives Victoria Police reasonable powers to stop potentially violent protests, or expressions of support for listed terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah or Hamas.”

Allan on Wednesday afternoon said people should not be protesting on October 7.

“This is a very traumatic anniversary for all those involved in the conflict,” she said.

“Whilst everyone has a right to protest peacefully, groups should reconsider the need to protest next week in respect to the grief it will cause Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Palestinian and Lebanese communities.”

On Wednesday morning, Albanese told ABC Radio it was important for people to “express themselves peacefully”, but said October 7 represented the largest number of “murders of Jewish people since the Holocaust” and there should not be any protests on this date.

“We need to promote social cohesion in our multicultural nation,” he said.

“It would be seen, I think, as incredibly provocative, it would not advance any cause. It would cause a great deal of distress,” he said.

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton backed the decision by NSW Police and said he hoped Victoria would follow suit.

“That is not an anniversary that should be celebrated and people shouldn’t be triumphant,” he said.

A Free Palestine spokesperson, whose group organises the city’s largest rallies held every Sunday, said there was no planned protest action on October 7 in Melbourne only the usual weekly protest the day before.

“As the escalation of the genocide in Gaza enters its second year and the occupation of Palestine nears its 77th, we call on community to attend the rally in numbers to send a clear message to the Australian government and world that we have not forgotten Palestine and never will,” they said in a statement.

“As we have for the last 12 months, we will continue to call on the Australian government to take immediate action against the Israeli government by imposing boycotts, divestments and sanctions.”

Protesters with a photo of assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Melbourne on Sunday.Credit: AAP

Free Palestine Melbourne organiser Omar Hassan said Sunday’s rally would be “significant and symbolic”.

“Having a mass demonstration on October 6 to commemorate the over 41,000 people killed in one year and thousands more displaced, is absolutely appropriate,” he told ABC Radio on Wednesday.

Free Palestine Coalition Naarm said its October 7 vigil would “involve a silent procession led by grieving families, representing silenced calls for a permanent ceasefire and a just solution that is yet to be achieved one year after Israel declared its war on this day”.

Zionist Federation Australia president Jeremy Leibler said it was “sickening that protesters are attempting to hijack a day of unspeakable tragedy”.

“On October 7, the Jewish community will be solemnly mourning the greatest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust,” he said.

Philip Zajac, president of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, backed calls for a permit system for protests.

Jillian Segal, Australia’s special envoy to combat antisemitism, told the ABC there should not be large protests on October 7, which she described as “a very, very sad day for the Australian Jewish community” and “a day of infamy”.

“Next Monday is a very sombre day,” she said, asking that “the Jewish community be allowed to mourn on that day”.

With Riley Walter

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