Key posts
That concludes our live coverage of the protests in Melbourne and around the country.
Here are some of the key moments:
- A large crowd of protesters including key crossbencher Catherine Cumming has marched from Parliament House in Melbourne to Flagstaff Gardens to protest against Victoria’s new pandemic laws and vaccination mandates;
- You can read a report on the day’s events in Melbourne from reporter Rachael Dexter here;
- Former Liberal federal MP Craig Kelly has addressed a rally in Sydney where he attacked vaccine mandates and vaccine passports;
- Rallies were also held in Brisbane - where one protester called for Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to be hanged - and Perth.
Thank you for following along with the live blog today. Our national blog will be back up and running on Monday morning.
At least 10,000 people have descended on Forrest Place in Perth to protest against the mandate of the COVID-19 vaccination.
A protest in favour of the vaccine rollout was held close by at Yagan Square but appeared smaller.
Some of the signs include: “imagine still believing any of this is about stopping the virus”;“I just luv Mark McTwat”; “I’m vaccinated, just jot with the experiment”; “my body my choice”; and “the media is the virus”.
Carrying Australian flags, the group marched through the city while repeatedly chanting “freedom”.
A protester who did not want to be named said she was vaccinated but was fighting for the right for others to choose what they did with their bodies
Clive Palmer has told Brisbane’s freedom rally he’d rather “go out of business” than listen to vaccine advice from Queensland’s premier, who he called ‘Palachook’, while also saying Prime Minister Scott Morrison was “bullshitting” people.
“Our rights don’t come from Daniel Andrews. Our rights don’t come from Mark McGowan, our rights don’t come from Palachook. And you know there’s no chook like a Palachook,” he told the crowd.
“Our freedom doesn’t come from Scott Morrison. Our freedom doesn’t come from Anthony Albanese and our freedom certainly doesn’t come from Barnaby Joyce.”
When asked by the event speaker about advice for business owners concerned about the vaccine mandate, he replied: “I’d go out of business rather than listen to what Palachook wants to do.”
He later told the crowd that the Australian people would not be silenced, and also criticised Mr Morrison, saying he had “abandoned Australia”.
“Craig Kelly introduced in the House of Representatives two bills in the last sitting of parliament,” he said.
“One of them was to outlaw mandatory vaccinations. The other was to outlaw vaccine passports. Yet today, Morrison said he’s against what the Queensland government can do.
“Why won’t he let the Liberals vote for those bills - because he won’t - because he’s bullshitting and he’s lying to you.“
As many young families lined up for a peek at this year’s Myer Christmas windows, protesters provided an unwelcome spectacle as they flowed down Bourke Street Mall toward parliament.
Helen, who was shopping with a friend in the CBD and asked for her last name not to be included, said she was surprised by the number who had turned out for the demonstration on Saturday.
As many young families lined up for a peek at this year’s Myer Christmas windows, protesters provided a sometime unwelcome spectacle as they flowed down Bourke Street Mall.Credit:Ashleigh McMillan
She said it was disappointing the group had sought to cut off as many public transport routes as possible on their path through the city.
“A lot of people (in the protest) are just walking along silently, but it’s the aggressive, loud people here which I don’t like,” Helen said. “They’re very intimidating.“
Chants of ‘kill the bill’, ‘no more mandates’ and ‘sack Dan Andrews’ were popular refrains from the crowd as they returned to state parliament at around 4.20pm.
Clive Palmer is expected to address Brisbane freedom rally, saying he supports Australians right to choose to be vaccinated.
Mr Palmer told the Brisbane Times that he was at the protest to support freedom of choice.
Clive Palmer (centre) attended the Brisbane rally on Saturday.Credit:Cloe Read
“It’s not a question of vaccinated or unvvacinated, it’s a question of freedom of choice,” he said.
Mr Palmer said Prime Minister Scott Morrison was “just a liar” when he voiced discomfort with vaccine mandates.
“He’s pushing businesses to get people to get vaccinated but at the same time saying everyone should have their right to choose,” he said.
“But you don’t have a choice when you’ve got five children and a mortgage to pay.“
Mr Palmer is expected to address the rally shortly.
The Melbourne protest against Victoria’s new pandemic bill is now moving back towards Parliament House, after the large demonstration wrapped up in Flagstaff Gardens.
Protesters are spilling down William and Latrobe streets in the CBD, with police walking alongside the group.
Earlier, a number of prominent voices in the anti-lockdown movement spoke to protesters, as flags touting Donald Trump and far-right American website Infowars were flown in the crowd.
Protesters made their way back through the city from Flagstaff Gardens.Credit:Ashleigh McMillan
Blogger Topher Field was among those who spoke to the crowd at Flagstaff Gardens.
Mr Field said the group had sent a message to the parliament crossbenchers: “don’t take us for fools”.
He claimed the crowd at the park had reached 450,000 despite a much smaller number of people attending.
“Daniel Andrews thought he had this game won, until he got Somyu-wrecked,” he said, invoking independent MP Adem Somyurek, whose conduct is under investigation in an anti-corruption watchdog inquiry.
Mr Somyurek returned to parliament this week after confirming his vaccination status and vowed to vote against the pandemic legislation.
Thousands showed up for the “People’s Revolution” protest in Brisbane, holding signs criticising Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, COVID-19 vaccine mandates and the media.
One protester yelled “hang the bitch” at the rally, held in the CBD’s Botanic Gardens, when the speaker began talking about Ms Palaszczuk.
Protesters gathered in Brisbane to oppose vaccine mandates and call for borders to reopen.Credit:Cloe Read
Others held fascist-styled signs of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Ms Palaszczuk.
The crowd is said to be the biggest the city has seen at a protest of this kind. The protesters regularly chanted to “open the borders”.
Queensland businessman and United Australia Party founder Clive Palmer was also expected to address the crowd.
Craig Kelly said freedom had come from the sacrifice of previous generations as he took aim at the state premiers and Prime Minister Scott Morrison over vaccine mandates.
“When we have governments that adopt vaccine passports we are no longer free. The idea that you could lose your job because you have not engaged to take an experimental vaccine that has zero long-term safety data is a disgrace and an abuse of human rights,” he told the Sydney rally.
Craig Kelly in the crowd at the Sydney rally Credit:Steven Siewert
“The premiers and the Prime Minister included are engaged in a breach of Australians human rights.”
This was greeted to chants of “sack them all, sack them all’” from the crowd.
Kelly added: “The buck stops with the prime minister. He could ban vaccine passports in this country if he wanted to.
“My message today and is one of hope. The crowd we see in front of us is just a small number of people that is coming after the Labor and Liberal parties at the next election.”
The vaccines approved for use in Australia have strong scientific backing as being both safe and effective in preventing COVID-19.
If you would like to read more about the development of the vaccines and their safety this piece by science reporter Liam Mannix provides some great context.
Here’s a taste:
Of 57 vaccines approved by the US since 1996, the median safety follow-up was 1½ months. Yet only one had to be withdrawn from the market for safety reasons; at the same time, these vaccines cut the incidence of common viruses such as polio and measles by more than 90 per cent.
It is quite amazing how safe and effective these medicines are.
And the trials often have to run longer than COVID-19 ones because they have to capture enough infections in the placebo group to be sure a vaccine is working. It might take a long time to capture enough shingles infections; that is not a problem when testing a COVID-19 vaccine in the middle of a pandemic.
Sydney Morning Herald photographer Steven Siewert has covered today’s rally in NSW and taken some terrific shots.
Here’s a selection but you can check out more at the gallery we’ve put together here.
Protester dressed as a character from the movie Braveheart at the Sydney rallyCredit:Steven Siewert
Former Liberal Federal MP Craig Kelly mingled with protesters.Credit:Steven Siewert
Protesters carrying signs at the front of the rally in SydneyCredit:Steven Siewert
A large crowd gathered to protest vaccine mandates in Sydney.Credit:Steven Siewert
Flagstaff Gardens in Melbourne’s CBD is still teeming with protesters against Victoria’s pandemic legislations on Saturday afternoon.
Thousands of people have amassed in the park, with an overflow of demonstrators blocking the corner of William and Latrobe streets as police watch on.
Flagstaff Gardens in Melbourne’s CBD was teeming with protesters against Victoria’s pandemic legislation on Saturday afternoon.Credit:Ashleigh McMillan
A band onstage at the park has led protesters in chants of, “I’m an enemy of the state” and “we will rise”, before a singalong of I Am You Are We Are Australian.
Flags floating above the sea of protesters include the Australian flag and Australian Red Ensign flags, the Eureka flag, a Boxing Kangaroo and national flags of France, Italy and Greece.
Many young children are present at the rally, some carrying signs stating they will “not be lab rats”.
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2021-11-20 06:49:45Z
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