Melbourne protests LIVE Victoria Police braced for fourth day of anti-vaccine protests

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A Nine security officer has been arrested by police ahead of scheduled protests, near the boarded-up CFMEU offices on Elizabeth Street.

The officer had left a group of waiting media before being intercepted by police, slammed to the ground and held face-down by four officers.

Photo of the arrest.Credit:Wayne Taylor

One officer had his knee in the man’s neck, while the security guard screamed. He was led away, doubled over.

The Age has sought clarification from police as to whether the man showed his credentials to police before his arrest, as witnesses suggested.

Security guards for Nine, which owns The Age, have been working alongside journalists, photographers and camera operators to keep them safe while covering the protests. Media have been targeted by protesters this week. A Channel 7 reporter had a bottle hurled at his head during a live broadcast.

Police have arrived at the CFMEU headquarters in the city.

Age journalist Bianca Hall is on the scene and says one man has already been arrested on the corner of Leicester and Victoria streets.

The Shrine of Remembrance this morning, the day after protesters staged a sit-in.Credit:Wayne Taylor

Bus loads of uniformed offices have arrived at Elizabeth and Victoria streets, and Elizabeth and Queensberry streets, ahead of planned protests.

About two dozen police have lined the boarded-up head office of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union.

The headquarters were the heart of unrest on Monday, when dozens of construction workers - as well as anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown demonstrators - turned up to protest mandatory vaccination for the sector.

Following that, the government decided to shut down the sector for two weeks, due to a lack of compliance from some workers to COVID safety and following significant transmission of the virus at work sites.

You can read more about what happened on Monday here.

The Victorian government’s top construction industry adviser has quit in protest over controversial new rules for the sector that sparked demonstrations from tradespeople last week and led to vandalism of the building union’s head office.

Union and industry leaders said they received minimal notice and provided no input to the government’s decision last week to close tea rooms and ban employees from working if they had not received their first coronavirus vaccination within a week.

Police and protesters face-off at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance on Wednesday.Credit:Eddie Jim

Peter Parkinson â€" government-appointed chair of the state’s building industry council which advises Treasurer Tim Pallas â€" resigned last week after voicing frustration about a lack of consultation and understanding about implications of the new rules from Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton’s public-health team.

Circumstances of his departure were confirmed by four union and industry sources speaking anonymously to discuss the relationship between the Health Department and union and employer groups, which one source said had “disintegrated” in the three weeks leading to the shutdown.

They said Mr Parkinson, who declined to comment when contacted by The Age, had expressed his concerns to the government, which caused tension about whether it was tenable for the chair of the council to be at odds with the government that appointed him.

Read more here.

Media will have to delay publishing helicopter footage of protests on Melbourne streets and organisations must apply for approval from police to fly, under tight new rules that temporarily restrict the city’s airspace.

Victoria Police on Wednesday banned aircraft from flying above the inner city to a height of 2500 feet (762 metres) without their approval as anti-lockdown protesters clashed with officers for the third day. It meant news helicopters could not capture footage.

However, after concerns were raised by media organisations that the introduction of the no-fly zone was an overreach, Victoria Police said it would include a provision for media outlets to operate their aircraft over the CBD.

“As part of the conditions, pilots will need to obtain approval from Victoria Police air wing before taking off, to ensure there are no safety risks,” a spokeswoman said.

“Media outlets will also be required to delay publishing any live-stream footage from the air by 60 minutes or at the conclusion of the operation. This is because protesters were actively monitoring aerial live streams, compromising the police operation and putting the safety of members at risk.”

Read more here.

Melbourne endured a third day of anti-vaccine anarchy on Wednesday as protesters chanted “freedom” on the steps of one of the city’s most sacred landmarks, the Shrine of Remembrance, only to be blasted off late in the afternoon by police firing non-lethal rounds.

The Shrine, which was built in 1934 and commemorates those who served and died in Australia’s wars, was left with its lawns littered with rubbish, including a full can of chickpeas, tear gas canisters and leftover “bean” rounds. One decorated veteran stood by with his head in his hands.

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

The hours-long stand-off between police and several hundred protesters came at the end of another meandering march through the city. Once the demonstrators had occupied the steps of the Shrine and were sitting around the eternal flame, they chanted a mix of anti-vaccine slogans and invective at Premier Daniel Andrews, as well as singing the national anthem and holding a minute’s silence for people who had died by suicide during the pandemic. At one stage they took a knee in front of police officers.

Shrine chairman Captain Stephen Bowater decried the protest as “disgraceful and disrespectful”. “The Shrine of Remembrance is sacred. It is not a place of protest,” he said. RSL Victoria said the protesters were “completely disrespecting the sanctity” of the site.

Read more here.

Good morning and welcome to The Age’s live blog covering the continued protests in Melbourne.

Here’s hoping for no seismic activity today.

Yesterday’s protest culminated in a stand-off with police on the steps of The Shrine of Remembrance, the war memorial on St Kilda Road honouring the service and sacrifice of Australians at war.

Up to 1,000 demonstrators, a mixture of construction workers, and anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown believers, staged a sit-in that lasted more than three hours with police trying to negotiate for a peaceful exit.

The stand-off became even more volatile when dozens refused to leave, with police firing non-lethal force such as foam baton rounds, beanbag rounds and capsicum spray.

More than 200 people were arrested over the course of the day.

Though Wednesday’s roving protest through the city appeared to be less violent than Tuesday’s action, where demonstrators swept the West Gate Bridge, some protesters threw flares, golf balls, tap handles and batteries at police officers even as the group were urged to refrain from violence by their own.

Two officers were treated for head injuries after bottles were thrown at them.

Protests are expected to continue today.

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