Melbourne protests: Angry nurses blast demonstrators

Victorian nurses have demanded the Melbourne protesters ‘stop fighting for the right to overwhelm our health system’.

Anti-lockdown protesters mass on Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge. Picture: Jason Edwards

Nurses have demanded Melbourne protesters “stop fighting for the right to overwhelm our health system”, as union leaders backed the decision to shut down Victoria’s construction industry due to increased Covid transmissions and violent protests.

CFMEU leaders acknowledged about half those attending initial protests outside the union headquarters on Monday were union members and construction workers, but said the crowd was infiltrated by extremists who drove the violence on Monday afternoon and Tuesday.

The Business Council of Australia accused the Andrews government of putting the state’s economic recovery at risk with its snap two-week closure of the building industry, with the Master Builders projecting $445m will be lost each day during the closure.

But ACTU secretary Sally McManus said the safety of workers was the first priority and unions accepted the decision to shut down the industry given that it was deemed necessary by Victorian health officials.

“It is the health experts who determine if safety can be maintained,” she said. “This should be ­respected. It is extremely disappointing that anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists have pushed messages that undermine the work done by building unions to keep the industry open and safe.”

Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari said unions accepted the decision by health officials to shut down the industry, given the high number of ­recent Covid transmissions on building sites and the conduct of protesters over the past two days. “No one wants the construction industry to be shut down but at this point with so many morons out on the street, the public health team has made the decision that’s what needs to happen,” he said.

“There’s too much spread of Covid and there’s too much chaos. The chief health officer made the call and we have to support the chief health officer.”

In a strongly worded statement, the Victorian branch secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, Lisa Fitzpatrick, said nurses, midwives and carers were “exhausted and frustrated as they watch protesters fight for their right to overwhelm our health system”.

Ms Fitzpatrick condemned Monday’s “pointless violence” at the CFMEU headquarters and praised the “brave efforts of our police force”.

CFMEU construction national secretary Dave Noonan acknowledged that about half of the estimated protesters who ­initially gathered outside the union’s headquarters in Melbourne on Monday were either union members or construction workers, with up to 40 per cent being CFMEU members.

But he said subsequently the crowd was “heavily infiltrated by neo-Nazis and other right-wing extremist groups” who drove the violence on Monday afternoon as well as the violent mob behaviour through the streets of Melbourne on Tuesday. He cited Facebook messages that urged agitators to wear hi-vis clothing to appear to be genuine tradies.

CFMEU Victorian secretary John Setka said “drunken fascist un-Australian morons are the reason construction workers will be sitting at home and not getting paid for the next two weeks”.

Ms McManus said the construction industry was under stress and small business owners and out-of-work tradies were among those who attended Monday’s gathering. But she said the “disgusting” attack on the CFMEU headquarters was led by violent anti-vaxxers.

In relation to mandatory Covid vaccinations, Ms McManus said it was “always better to support and encourage people to get vaccinated and to seek advice from their doctor”.

“We have always warned that mandates can lead to unnecessary division and it is very clear that extremists have latched onto the issue to push their cause,” she said.

 

“If we did not have the supply constraints and had an effective public education campaign, we would not be having this division and these debates. These are more consequences of the failures in the Morrison government’s vaccine rollout.”

Praising the NSW government’s approach to the construction industry, BCA chief executive Jennifer Westacott said that, in contrast, Victoria’s snap shutdown of the entire sector will put the recovery at risk and undermine confidence in the state’s slow reopening plan.

“Around 320,000 Victorian jobs in the construction sector have been put at risk because of the actions of a small minority,” she said. “Big projects aren’t a tap that can simply be turned on or off. Even a very short shutdown puts projects at risk.”

Master Builders Victoria chief Rebecca Casson said the closure was a bitter blow for the vast majority of construction industry businesses that had done the right thing and disheartening for vaccinated workers.

“We condemn the actions of the rioters we’ve seen in Melbourne in recent days. They do not represent our industry, nor do they speak for our workforce,” she said.

“We support vaccination and the protection that it will provide our workforce.”