Coronavirus: liberties and vaccinations prove a heady mix at Melbourne rally

A police officer was taken to hospital and 10 people were arrested at an anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne on Sunday.

Police round up protesters outside Parliament House in Melbourne on Sunday. Picture: AAP

A police officer was taken to hospital with a rib injury and Victoria Police arrested 10 people at an anti-lockdown protest on the steps of state parliament in Melbourne.

While some among the several hundred people on Sunday­ ­wanted restrictions eased for the sake of their personal freedom, anti-vaccination placards were prominent, with many protesters bringing their children.

At one point protesters chanted “arrest Bill Gates” — an apparent reference to the Microsoft founder’s role in funding mass vaccination programs and research.

Other protesters made reference to the 5G mobile phone network, amid a conspiracy theory about it being linked to the spread of COVID-19, while others still presented a dossier “proving” coronavirus was “fake news” con­cocted by “the government and the media”.

Police said that while they respected the public's right to protest, ­Victorians’ health and safety needed to be their top priority.

“Victoria Police made it very clear that if a planned protest was to proceed today, it would be in ­direct contravention of the Chief Health Officer’s current directives,” a police spokeswoman said.

“At the protest on Spring Street today, police arrested 10 people, including two organisers of the event. OC spray was deployed during an arrest of one individual.”

Police said most of the arrests were for failing to comply with the Chief Health Officer’s directions. “Three of the offenders will also be charged with assaulting a police officer, and another offender will be charged with discharging a missile after allegedly throwing a bottle at police,” the spokeswoman said.

“All offenders were released pending summons. As a result of the protest activity, a police officer who was in attendance has been taken to hospital for what is ­believed to be a rib injury.”

Police said the crowd had dispersed after they started making arrests, and they intended to issue further fines to others identified as having been present.

Federal Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy slammed the 5G theory as “silly misinformation”.

“I have unfortunately received a lot of communication from these conspiracy theorists myself,” Professor Murphy said.

“It is complete nonsense. 5G has got nothing at all to do with coronavirus.

“Similarly, I understand people have the right to protest, but they should not be breaching those ­social-distancing rules and if they are, they should be held to account.”