In short:
There have been clashes between police and a large group of protesters outside the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre where a major defence and weapons expo is being held.
Hundreds of officers have been called in for what Victoria Police say is their biggest operation since the S11 protests outside the World Economic Forum in Melbourne 24 years ago.
What’s next?
Police and protesters are expected to remain on scene in large numbers throughout the conference.
Live updates here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-11/live-blog-land-forces-protest-melbourne-israel-gaza/104333922
Capsicum spray, rubber bullets and tear gas have been used on parts of the crowd.
Emphasis on some protestors. Idiot protestors, of which there were clearly some (I’ve seen footage of a man attempting to hit a horse in the head, people throwing objects at officers and charging at them), should always be dealt with by police. There is a give and take to this stuff. Yes, we have a right to protest but it does not happen in a vacuum and our behaviour as protestors can and does influence future police behaviour and government legislation. If you give them a reason to crackdown on you, they will. Unfortunately what we have seen in the algorithmic social media age, and particularly since COVID, is a rise in a completely unhinged and deranged individuals who live in some fictional reality attending these events and negatively impacting public protest for everyone else. That’s when you start getting over-policing of events that would otherwise be genuinely safe and peaceful.
It’s really not appropriate for a politician, the police minister to boot, to be calling anyone an ‘idiot’ in the same breath as demanding respect for the police. It’s the sort of language I’d accept from a truck driver, not from a top politician.
He is setting the tone of the discussion in an extremely problematic way by dehumanising/othering those desparately trying to stop lethal weapons sales used in crimes against humanity, while he normalises the gathering of war profiteers.
I’m extremely disappainted by this government’s policing policy.
No, he othered the protestors who are assaulting the police and random people trying to walk past (in 7:30’s coverage last night you can clearly hear a guy say “I live just up the road” as protestors attack him for the crime of being slightly dressed up). Most sane individuals in our society would agree that those people are idiots who deserve to be called out. Defending them and their behaviour because you think it contributes to a greater good is not a good lock.