14 arrests as police pounce on anti-lockdown demonstrators

Fourteen people were arrested and at least 51 have been fined during anti-lockdown protests across Melbourne. Police branded the activity disappointing and late on Saturday said they expected to issue further fines. One man who was arrested says it was worth the fine after he bizarrely made himself known to police as they started to walk away. The man called out to police as they crossed the road and proudly displayed a sign before being handcuffed and led away. About 100 people attended the protests across various locations, police said.

The force said, despite all the warnings, it was disappointing to see individuals turn out to protest in the city today, putting the lives of Victorians at risk. Our investigations into this protest will continue and we expect to issue further fines once the identity of individuals has been confirmed. Anyone thinking of attending a protest can expect the same swift and firm response from police as has occurred today and at previous protests that were in breach of Chief Health Officer restrictions.

Police visited 90 persons of interest to urge them not to attend the demonstrations before today’s protests. About a dozen anti-lockdown protesters were arrested on Saturday near Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance with a heavy police presence so far preventing any large groups from gathering.

It comes after hundreds of protesters clashed with police in ugly scenes at the Shrine of Remembrance and Albert Park Lake last Saturday, which saw 17 arrested and 180 fined for breaches of the chief health officer’s directions. Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius again urged Victorians not to leave home to illegally protest.

He said, If people still choose to ignore our warnings and attend any of these protest events they should be prepared for a strong police presence in the city and surrounding areas. These are significant police resources drawn from across our uniform members and our specialist capabilities, these are resources that are unfairly being taken away from local communities that would otherwise be directed to keeping the community safe. We have to direct those resources towards containing the behaviour of a small number of selfish Victorians. People were kidding themselves if they thought they could leave home for exercise and dress that up as protest. Don’t take us for fools. We’ll call you out and hold you to account. We’ll have no hesitation in issuing the $1652 fine to people who are engaged in flagrant breaches of the stage four restrictions. Please help keep your fellow Victorians safe. It is at the moment unlawful to leave home to engage in protest activity; it’s clear under the current restrictions. He was sick of having to urge selfish Victorians not to illegally protest. It’s incredibly frustrating and if people were less selfish and a little bit more grown up we wouldn’t have to keep doing this.

Police also spoke to a number of people planning to protest across the weekend and put them on notice not to attend.