By Lachlan Abbott and Ashleigh McMillan
Violence erupted again on the steps of the Victorian parliament on Saturday afternoon as demonstrators clashed over transgender rights, just a year after neo-Nazis attended a similar rally in Melbourne.
Advocates for the #WomenWillSpeak movement gathered at Parliament House in Melbourne’s CBD, where a large police presence separated them from a larger group of trans rights counter-protesters.
Police said around 100 people were in attendance in total, with counter-protesters outnumbering those who said they were rallying for women’s rights. Libertarian Party MP David Limbrick was spotted at the event listening to the speakers.
Pepper spray was deployed when a small number of trans rights activists skirted around police lines and tried to move closer to those making speeches on the steps of parliament.
In the ensuing scuffle, Herald Sun photographer Tony Gough, who was covering the protest, was knocked over and received pepper spray to the face and eyes.
Police detained several trans rights advocates, including one who officers carried across the Parliament House steps by their arms and legs.
Two women aged in their 20s were arrested at the scene and are expected to be charged on summons.
The rally occurred almost a year to the day after neo-Nazi’s gatecrashed Melbourne’s Let Women Speak rally at Parliament House. British anti-trans rights campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull organised the 2023 event.
In promotional materials for Saturday’s event, organisers said women’s rights and single-sex spaces were under attack, referencing transgender people by stating “no child is born in the wrong body”.
On Saturday, a second fracas erupted less than 30 minutes after the first, in front of stunned onlookers outside the Cricketer’s Bar near the corner of Bourke and Spring streets.
Diners watched on as a man who was livestreaming the event was followed by a large group of trans rights activists, and a scuffle broke out between him and one of the counter-protesters as they fought over his long metal phone tripod.
Officers from the mounted branch moved onto the footpath to break up the fight.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said in a statement that they were “disappointed” by the behaviour of those who tried to break through police lines at the demonstration. “Our members were confronted by hostile members of the crowd who acted out violently towards police,” she said.
“We have a long history of supporting peaceful protest but will not tolerate disgraceful and unlawful behaviour. As is standard procedure available footage will be reviewed to identify any further offending.”