Heated protests erupted in Sydney and Melbourne as massive crowds took to the streets to decry ongoing lockdown measures, seeing clashes with Australian police, who responded with pepper spray, roadblocks and a string of arrests.
The demonstrations broke out on Saturday afternoon in the two major cities, with groups estimated in the hundreds protesting coronavirus lockdowns and curfew orders, chanting slogans and hoisting signs against the country’s Covid regime.
Thousands of protesters in Melbourne. @theagepic.twitter.com/wgaYUyDZgW
Footage making the rounds online showed crowds making their way through Melbourne, at some points clashing with a heavy police presence deployed to block the march. Pepper spray was unleashed on the demonstrators in response.
Disturbing Scenes from the Lockdown Protest in Melbourne Australia, within the last hour. pic.twitter.com/STUAnBhnyC
Police have been forced to use pepper spray to block protesters after a heated clash. @theheraldsunpic.twitter.com/a2cTnrh0TA
A number of arrests were also filmed in Sydney, where one man was heard screaming “why are you arresting me?” as he was hauled away by officers.
Multiple people being arrested. pic.twitter.com/0tpOPW4O5U
Ahead of the marches, police declared a zero-tolerance policy for any protest in Sydney, with the New South Wales deputy police commissioner Mal Lanyon saying some 1,400 officers would be deployed for that purpose. Lanyon insisted “This is not about stopping free speech, this is about stopping the spread of the virus,” while the state’s police minister David Elliott warned protesters would face “the full force of the NSW police.”
Police arresting protesters at Victoria Park #Sydney. Huge police presence. #SydneyLockdown#nswpol#nswcovid#protest#auspol2021pic.twitter.com/kkAzHkNrzU
In addition to the large police deployment, authorities also ordered rideshare services not to carry passengers into Sydney’s Central Business District, while trains will not make stops at some stations across the city, according to local reports. Police roadblocks were also seen in Sydney, an effort to close off major streets to protest marches.
And protestors just breached the police line #Melbourne#Covidiots#Covid19Aus#Auspolpic.twitter.com/veXquSWqzh
The demos come soon after officials in New South Wales announced an extended Covid lockdown on Friday, set to put nearly half of Sydney’s 5 million residents under a nightly curfew until mid-September. A similar order is already in place in Melbourne, meaning more than a quarter of Australia’s population will remain under lockdown restrictions, which require residents to stay at home with a few exceptions.
People are letting off flares now on Lonsdale Street in the CBD for the anti-lockdown protest, choppers are overhead. @theagepic.twitter.com/xbkNbeuPIS
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian argued the move was needed to slow the spread of the more infectious Delta variant, which has driven a surge in cases across the state. It reported 825 locally acquired infections on Saturday, a significant increase from the 644 tallied the day prior.
