Two police officers were hospitalised after clashing with protesters in the CBD on Sunday, where a March for Australia anti-immigration protest was met with counter-protesters – who allegedly threw large rocks at police – as well as rotten fruit, and bottles with shards of glass.
This came just days after the revelation of a shocking daylight stabbing near Spencer St, where a woman was stabbed in the chest by a stranger.
Victoria Police Commander Wayne Cheeseman holds a rock allegedly thrown at police during protests on Sunday. (Nine)
Senior Victoria Policeman Wayne Cheeseman condemned the protesters and claimed Melburnians have “had a gutful” of recent protests and violent crime incidents in the city.
Allan stated recently the city was safe, and she stood by her remarks at a press conference on Monday.
“I will repeat that yes, Melbourne’s CBD is safe,” she said.
“I think it would be wrong and misleading to conflate the behaviour of a very small number of people yesterday who came to the city to bring violence, and they were dealt with swiftly by Victoria Police.”
Counter-protesters stare down police at Sunday’s March for Australia rally in Melbourne. (Paul Jeffers)
A flag burns during Sunday’s protests. (Ashleigh McMillan)
The protests in Melbourne were just one of many to take place around the country, with Sydney, Brisbane and Perth all seeing anti-immigration protesters and counter-protesters converging in city centres.
Allan said the actions of a small majority – police estimated around 40 of the 1000 protesters in Melbourne were violent – should not be conflated with previous peaceful protests in Melbourne.
“We’ve had some significant size protests in cities, in Melbourne, in Sydney, around the country that have been peaceful, that haven’t seen this level of violence. What we saw yesterday was a very different pattern of behaviour,” she said.
“It was violent, it was unacceptable, it’s not tolerated.”
Jacinta Allan insisted Victoria Police are equipped to deal with protests and violent incidents in Melbourne. (Simon Schluter)
Cheeseman and other figures in Victoria Police have called on more support and funding from the State government, but Allan insisted police had adequate resources to deal with protests and other violent incidents.
“[Police] had the resources, and also, importantly, they had the powers to deal with those protesters.”
She added she expects police to use these powers to their full effect to punish the perpetrators; so far only one person has been arrested in relation to Sunday’s protest.
“I want to thank Victoria police for the way they kept the community safe and dealt swiftly with this group of protesters who were choosing to use violence. It was unacceptable,” she said.
“It is my expectation that the full force of the law will be brought to those who perpetrated this violence, which subsequently has been identified and are being investigated by Victoria Police.”