As it happened: Police disperse protesters at Shrine of Remembrance; Daniel Andrews condemns demonstrations

Good evening, and thank you for joining us for live coverage of today’s protests.

In case you are just tuning in, here is a wrap of what you have missed throughout the day.

• Today’s protests were significantly smaller and less unruly than Tuesday’s. Scattered groups of demonstrators engaged in a game of cat and mouse with Victorian riot police throughout the morning, with officers pursuing small and seemingly disorganised crowds as they marched along several CBD streets. A handful of arrests were made as members of Victoria Police’s Public Order Response and Critical Incident Response teams converged on the city in a show of force, stopping people who attempted to enter the CBD and checking their identification.

Protesters marched on the city for a third day. Credit: Jason South

• By early afternoon, protesters were growing in numbers near the Melbourne headquarters of the CFMEU, north of the Queen Victoria Market, where there was also a large police presence. The construction union’s office windows had been boarded over after protesters gathered there on Monday, throwing projectiles including bottles.

The demonstrators ultimately converged on the Shrine of Remembrance. Credit: Jason South

• The protesters converged on the Shrine of Remembrance later in the afternoon. They periodically chanted a mix of anti-vaccine slogans and invective at Premier Daniel Andrews and sang the national anthem, also holding a minute’s silence for people who have died by suicide in the pandemic and at one stage taking a knee in front of police officers. Police offered the protesters safe passage to leave the Shrine via St Kilda Road, but some refused, saying they wanted to leave through the centre.

A man visibly upset at the Shrine. Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Ross Guenther said it was “completely disrespectful” the protesters gathered there. Credit: Jason South

• The protesters were ultimately dispersed from the Shrine just before 5pm, with police deploying capsicum spray and foam batons, among other non-lethal measures. Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Ross Guenther said more than 200 people were arrested in the protests, out of a crowd of up to about 400. He said some protesters threw golf balls and tap handles at police, and “it was completely disrespectful that the crowd ended up at the Shrine, which is such a hallowed ground in this great city”. Mr Guenther warned protesters from coming back again tomorrow.

Thank you again for joining us today. For continued live coverage this evening, you can switch over to our national blog.

More than 200 people have so far been arrested after protesters again flooded the streets of Melbourne on Wednesday.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner of public safety and security, Ross Guenther, said all of those arrested would be issued fines, and some had been charged with more serious offences.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Ross Guenther.Credit: Joe Armao

He said up to 400 people attended Wednesday’s protests.

Some threw flares, golf balls, tap handles and batteries at police officers. Two officers had sustained head injuries from having bottles thrown at them, while another was in hospital under observation for chest pain.

“We’re really disappointed that people are still coming into the city in these circumstances,” Mr Guenther said.

“My observation is that it was completely disrespectful that the crowd ended up at the Shrine, which is such a hallowed ground in this great city.”

He said police made every effort on Wednesday to “work on much greater fragmentation of the groups”, to prevent them from coming together in a larger group like they did on Tuesday.

“Our message simply is don’t come into the city,” Mr Guenther said.

“We don’t need you coming into town at this time, we know that there’s still the virus spreading in our community in this state.

“For those that are parents, think about your kids, and think about the likely impact [of] your conduct if you choose to come into the city.”

He said police deployed capsicum spray and foam baton rounds to disperse protesters on Wednesday.

“I think we what we have done is we’ve made it very clear that we’ll manage the event, and if people come into this, there’s a very high likelihood that they’ll be charged with being in here for a number of reasons, and they’ll certainly be receiving a $5,000 fine,” Mr Guenther said.

“I’m hoping that will dissuade people from coming in, but more, I’d rather hope people would just make a good decision and say, ‘It’s not the right thing to do’, and just decide, I’m not going in.

“That would be a great outcome, if we had all of our people ready tomorrow morning and no one came in.”

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Ross Guenther provided an update on today’s protests at about 6.30pm AEST.

You can watch a playback video below.

Victoria Police has overturned its ban on media helicopters flying over Melbourne to cover the protests, only hours after it was announced.

Victoria Police made an application to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority on Wednesday to temporarily restrict air space in the Melbourne CBD.

A spokeswoman said on Wednesday evening that while that decision was made “for operational and safety reasons in relation to the protest activity, we acknowledge the concerns raised by the media”.

“As a result, Victoria Police will include a provision for media outlets to operate their aircrafts over the CBD,” she said.

As part of the conditions of the provision, pilots will need to get approval from Victoria Police’s airwing before they take off, to ensure there are no safety risks.

“Media outlets will also be required to delay publishing any livestream footage from the air by 60 minutes or at the conclusion of the operation,” the spokeswoman said.

“This is because protestors were actively monitoring aerial livestreams, compromising the police operation and putting the safety of members at risk.”

Assistant Attorney-General Amanda Stoker has condemned violence at the protests in Melbourne over recent days but says that she understands people who are desperate to get everyday freedoms back.

“Violence is never OK,” Senator Stoker said. She claimed too few Labor MPs had been willing to condemn the worst of the protester’s behaviour when some had been perpetrated by CFMEU members.

A man is taken away by police at the Shrine of Remembrance. Credit: Eddie Jim

More generally, Senator Stoker said, the protests reflected a deep frustration with continued heavy-handed coronavirus responses in Victoria.

“It reflects a deep-seated frustration among many Australians about the fact that they have experienced confinement for a long period of time and it reflects the fact that people need to have a clear path to getting back to normal,” she said.

“The good news is that the national plan is our pathway to get there and the more that the states, the Commonwealth, and the territories work together to deliver on the national plan the more people can be free of the restrictions on their liberty that frustrate them so much.”

Police dispersed Wednesday’s protesters from the Shrine of Remembrance just before 5pm, but a strong police presence remains in nearby streets.

Nine News chief Darren Wick has criticised the request by police to ban media helicopters from flying over Melbourne to cover protests, describing it as an overreach.

Wick, the national director of news and current affairs at Nine, told radio station 3AW on Wednesday afternoon that the decision was made by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, but the request had been made by police.

A still from the Nine helicopter of protests in Melbourne on Tuesday. Credit: Nine News

“[Victoria Police] want our chopper footage stopped for operational reasons, because they’re concerned that the protesters are going to use the live feeds to give updates on the locations of the police. We find that pretty ridiculous,” he said.

The helicopter is contracted by Nine, Seven and the ABC, which Wicks described as “the three most reputable sources of news in this country”.

“We know what we’re doing, we’re not here to scaremonger or do anything ridiculously but the concern for us about this decision was it was made without consultation,” Wick said.

“In the past, if police sought our assistance, during a siege, or during bushfires in terms of excluding chopper vision, we’ve always talked it through with them, we’ve always come up with a sensible decision, and we support them.

“We’re not a police state, it’s very unprecedented, and it’s very uncomfortable, the decision that’s been made.”

He said he didn’t like what the protesters were doing but to ban helicopter coverage was an overreach and set a very dangerous precedent, which moved into the realms of censorship and a police state.

Wicks said Nine were looking into their legal options to try and have the decision reversed.

“I really urge Victoria Police to rethink this decision immediately. It’s a very bad look for them, it looks as though they’ve got something to hide, we don’t think they do,” he said.

“We have all of our reporters and crews on the ground covering it. If we can’t get those pictures out in the air, we’re actually going to have to put more reporters, more crews on the ground working beside the police. So we need to cover it. We live in an open, free society, we’re a democracy.

“We allow these basic freedoms to disappear now, what comes next?”

Police are trying to find alternative options after they requested a no-fly zone over Melbourne, meaning media could not cover the protests from the air.

In a statement, a Victoria Police spokeswoman said they were aware of media concerns.

“Victoria Police made an application to CASA for restricted air space in the Melbourne CBD, due to operational and safety reasons in relation to the protest activity,” she said.

“We understand the concerns from the media about this decision. We are looking to find alternate options that would meet the needs of both Victoria Police and the media.”

She said an update will be provided as soon as possible.

Police have used tear gas and fired non-lethal rounds at protesters to disperse them from the Shrine of Remembrance.

The war memorial is now entirely empty.

Shrine of Remembrance chief executive Dean Lee is left to survey the mess left behind. Credit: Erin Pearson

Left behind at the war memorial were tear gas canisters, leftover bean rounds and foam batons.

Dozens gathered in the gardens beneath it shortly after they dispersed from the Shrine, still chanting “every day” to indicate they would be back to protest again.

Police then followed the protesters down through gardens and continued firing at them, as protesters made their way back into the city.

A Facebook live stream of the protests showed a car crashing into a tram as protesters flooded the city’s streets.

Some were heard on a stream saying that the protest was now over.

The front line of police has shifted onto the Shrine of Remembrance to occupy the area where the protesters stood earlier today.

A core rump of marchers has remained seated on the steps of the Shrine, facing police horses about 10 metres away.

Police at the Shrine of Remembrance. Credit: Michael Fowler

Police have continued urging the crowd to go home via St Kilda Road at the same time as arresting individuals from the crowd, one at a time.

“We want you to leave via St Kilda Road,” one police officer said. “There’s safe passage off to my right.”

The protesters are chanting “walk through the middle”.

About one-quarter of the group still protesting is wearing hi-vis - the majority are dressed in black, some with face coverings.

Aboriginal healthcare worker Vivian Malo has followed the protesters around for the past two days.

Dismayed at their actions, she has regularly shouted at the crowd, calling them losers and telling them to go home.

“They are getting into the minds of people with true concerns. It’s disturbing,” she said.

“I don’t believe it’s a true representation of CFMEU.”

For the first time, police have told protesters who have converged on the Shrine of Remembrance to “leave via St Kilda Road” through a megaphone.

The direction was greeted by a chorus of boos, as protesters have said they want to leave “down the centre with dignity, the way we came”.

Protesters want to leave the Shrine of Remembrance the way they came. Credit: Jason South

Police have taken another step up the hill, moving closer than they have at any point today.

The forward move has sparked abuse from many individuals towards police.

One man was standing with his hands in the air, other protesters have sat fewer than five metres in front of the police line.

Tensions are high as they have been in the last couple of hours as police appear to be making their ultimate move to disperse the crowd.

Riot police have put down their shields and moved back from hundreds of protesters at the Shrine of Remembrance to try and encourage demonstrators to leave peacefully.

Protesters who appear to be leading the group have said on megaphones that police have told them that those who want to leave, can do so peacefully.

Police and protesters are still facing-off.Credit: Jason South

Police then moved back slightly by a few metres from the main group to engender some trust.

Riot police had formed a tight ring around the demonstrators, who are still on the steps of the war memorial off St Kilda Road in the city, reporter Michael Fowler, who is on the scene, says.

Fowler and senior crime journalist Cameron Houston, also on scene, estimates about 400 police were currently at the Shrine.