Large crowds pack Melbourne CBD in pandemic lockdown protest
Thousands of mostly maskless people carried Australian and Eureka flags as they marched through Melbourne's CBD.
Thousands of demonstrators descended on to
Melbourne’s central business district on Saturday, protesting against
the Victorian government’s new pandemic powers and vaccine mandates.
The
protest, which included signs advocating violence against politicians
and a man carrying a prop gallows with three nooses hanging from it,
came as the state recorded 1,221 Covid-19 cases and four deaths.
Wet
weather did not deter the crowd, which chanted “kill the bill” and
“sack Dan Andrews” as it blocked tram lines and marched from the
Victorian State Library to Parliament House in Spring Street.
Many
held signs that likened the Victorian government to oppressive regimes
and former Liberal MP and current head of the United Australia party Craig Kelly addressed the crowd outside Parliament House, denouncing vaccine passports and the vaccination of children.
Kelly said Australia was being “governed by
medical bureaucrats that are part of a mad, insane cult” and claimed the
party would “bring Daniel Andrews to his knees” at the next federal
election.
The new pandemic laws, which will
replace the state-of-emergency powers that expire on 15 December, will
allow the premier and health minister to declare a pandemic and make public health orders.
The new laws will also curtail the role and responsibilities of the chief health officer.
The
protesters also singled out vaccine mandates, as the mandate for
construction workers took effect on Saturday. The mandate, which sparked
violent protests across Melbourne in September, required all tradies to
have had two vaccine doses by Saturday.
The requirement will extend to residential aged care workers on Monday.
About 1 million of the state’s essential workers in total will be
required to be double-jabbed by 26 November.
