‘Absolutely disgusting’: protesters debase shrine to war dead
Riot police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters after they overran Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance.
Riot police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at anti-vaccination and construction protesters after they overran Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance in the worst civil rebellion at the national memorial since the Vietnam War.
The protesters, many swearing, littering and some drinking, were savaged by the RSL for using the shrine as a platform to oppose lockdowns, vaccinations and the two-week shutdown of Victoria’s $22bn construction industry.
Police arrested 215 protesters across Melbourne on Wednesday, including some throwing batteries, tap handles and golf balls at officers, injuring several.
Just before 5pm, police stormed the steps and surrounds of the shrine, with several firing rubber bullets at scores of people and using tear gas to force them to flee in fear amid loud explosions.
It was the fourth time in five days that police were forced to battle inner city skirmishes linked to the national pandemic response. However, the number of protesters was down on Tuesday and there were fewer clashes with police, with participants encouraging a more peaceful but still disruptive strike on the city.
It is the first time in recent memory that police have been forced to fire guns and use tear gas at the shrine, founded in 1934 to honour the World War 1 dead.
It is considered a sacred site for returned service men and women and the use of the shrine was savaged by war veterans.
Scott Morrison, speaking from Washington, said the recent protests were “highly distressing”.
“I think it’s just very important that we exercise that patience and we get through what is a very difficult time,” the Prime Minister said. “That is not an appropriate response to trying to deal with an outbreak of this nature.”
The Victorian RSL said the shrine was critically important to the memory of the dead and the honouring of surviving members of the armed forces.
“Under no circumstances, ever, should the shrine be a place of protest,’’ the organisation said.
“If any individuals or groups choose to express their political views, positions or ideological theories in the grounds of the shrine at any time, they are completely disrespecting the sanctity of this honoured space – those men and women of the Australian Defence Force who have lost their lives, and all Victorian veterans.”
Shrine of Remembrance chief executive Dean Lee said the protests were “absolutely disgusting”, adding there had not been a protest on the scale of Wednesday since the Vietnam War.
“This protest has no relationship to the purpose of this place,” he said outside the shrine. (Protesters) are dishonouring the service of the shrine,” he added.
Protesters spent several hours at the shrine after leading hundreds of police on a merry chase through the city, this time splitting into smaller groups but using the same mobile tactics.
They walked quickly through the CBD and Carlton for several hours, eventually joining as one group at the shrine.
At one point, police also fired rubber bullets at protesters as they scurried through Carlton, which is on the edge of the CBD.
At the shrine, police were called “You f..king dogs’’, while others chanted “We want our jobs back” and “Freedom”.
Members of the group, of about 400 at its peak, also sang the national anthem, and regularly chanted “every day”, in reference to the aim of protesting daily after the construction industry was shut down for two weeks to stop the spread of Covid-19.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews defended the government’s decision to shutter the sector – which had been allowed to operate during the lockdowns – and noted there were 350 infections across 150 building sites during August and September.
“Unless we took this action, and unless we see compliance higher, then we’ll continue to see the spread of this virus and that puts everything at risk,” he said.
Mr Andrews, speaking about demonstrations on Monday and Tuesday, said many of those who attended were “acting appallingly under the guise of a protest”.
On Tuesday, 2000 protesters caused inner city gridlock when they blocked the West Gate Bridge for about two hours.
The stalemate on Wednesday afternoon ended abruptly when police swarmed protesters, lobbing smoke bombs and deploying tear gas to clear the demonstrators, who fled down St Kilda Road. Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Ross Guenther said: “It was completely disrespectful that the crowd ended up at the shrine, which is hallowed ground. He said police would continue to turn out with the same show of force for every day the protesters planned to rally, but urged them to give up.
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