Greens slammed over response to Melbourne Land Forces Expo riot
The Greens have been accused of embracing ‘thuggery’ after Senator David Shoebridge attacked as ‘extreme violence’ the Victoria Police response to the Land Forces expo rioters.
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The Greens have been accused of embracing “thuggery” after Senator David Shoebridge attacked as “extreme violence” the Victoria Police response to the Land Forces expo rioters.
But police, the Albanese government and Coalition rebuffed Senator Shoebridge’s attacks on the officers confronted by hundreds of perpetrators of criminal damage and civil unrest.
Senator Shoebridge on Friday flew to Melbourne, attacking the Victoria Police operation, despite dozens of police and their horses being hit with acid substances, manure, bottles and canned food.
He said there was no place for violence in public gatherings but singled out for attention the response by Victoria Police.
He argued the security strategy was over the top and dangerous, but the Greens’ response has united Labor and the Coalition as the minor party attempts to maximise its vote among pro-Palestinian supporters and inner-city progressives.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the Greens had embraced “thuggery”, adding that protesters, who were demonstrating against the arms trade and the presence of Israeli weapons companies at the expo, had undermined their own cause.
Police accused the Greens of hypocrisy and failing to talk to riot police who faced a barrage of abuse, threats and missiles, including horse manure.
Mr Marles said: “If we want to talk about violence, what we have seen from the protesters is violent behaviour, and that is utterly unacceptable.’’
He condemned Senator Shoebridge, who addressed the demonstrators outside the expo after days of violent protests that caused peak hour gridlock and injured dozens of police.
“What we see from the Greens addressing the protesters today is licensing that sort of behaviour,” Mr Marles said. “I mean, I think this year, we have watched the Greens throw their lot in with thuggery time and time again.”
Mr Marles said the Land Forces expo was an important event for the ADF to ensure it could continue to protect Australians.
“The Australian Defence Force needs to be equipped to do the work it does, to keep Australia safe, to keep Victoria safe, to keep Melbourne safe, and that’s what all of this industry is about,” the Defence Minister said.
“We really do need to have a very clear respect for those who wear our nation’s uniform and for the companies which supply the equipment which enable those people to do their job.”
Victoria Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt said Senator Shoebridge had drawn his conclusions when he was in another part of Australia and had not spoken to police who were faced with the violence.
“It’s quite a different scenario when you are on a thin blue line,” he said. “They (police) are easy to criticise on the basis of ideology.”
Mr Gatt said the protesters had claimed to be acting peacefully but the reality was that there was a high degree of violence on the front line. “And I think people see through that sort of (Greens’) hypocrisy,” he added.
Protesters squirted an irritant up the nostrils of some police horses and the visors of some riders during the rioting in Melbourne that led to dozens of injuries and arrests.
Police have revealed that horses and their handlers had shown signs of skin irritation after the protest outside the Land Forces 24 Expo, which descended into violence on Wednesday.
Liberal frontbencher Michael Sukkar said he was genuinely shocked that the Greens were standing with the protesters.
“This just proves the Greens aren’t what they used to be,” he said. “It’s shocking that a Greens senator would stand in solidarity with the disgusting radicals who have injured dozens of police men and women.
“Our police are not human punching bags.’’
Senator Shoebridge, who attended at the scene of Wednesday’s violence, said the Greens had core beliefs pertaining to peace and non-violence and that Australia needed a new direction.
“We say there’s no place for violence in public gatherings. But we call out the extreme violence that came from Victoria Police,” he said.
“This is not Chicago 1968, this is Melbourne in 2024.
“I think it is extraordinary for politicians whether they are from the Labor or the Coalition, to say that a political party such as mine, whose core tenets are peace and non-violence … should not be here showing solidarity with thousands of Australians.
“More politicians should come and talk with young people and see that they are genuinely angry about their future being stolen, speak with them and recast this country.
“There were multiple politicians walking those halls with me, and I can’t help but think I was the only politician walking the halls not looking for my next job when I leave parliament.”
Senator Shoebridge sat in silence with the Quakers for Peace group during his Melbourne visit.
The protesting peaked on Wednesday when police were forced to push back against the violence and attempts to break through the wall of security at Melbourne’s convention centre, which hosted the conference.
This was when police horses were attacked; many of the protesters were believed to have been from interstate.
The protest groups were made up of the traditional pro-Palestinian activists and more hardline anti-war activists.
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