There have been angry scenes on the streets of Melbourne as the city entered its sixth lockdown due to the spread of the Delta Covid variant.
Protestors clashed with police and hurled bottles and other missiles while officers responded by making arrests and using pepper spray to try to disperse the crowds.
The march from Flinders Street station to Parliament House called for Victoria premier Daniel Andrews to be sacked as he once again issued stay at home orders for Australia’s second largest city.
Mr Andrews gave less than four hours’ notice that the state would lock down on Thursday evening.
He said his government had no other choice because only 20% of Australian adults had been fully vaccinated by Wednesday.
The state leader said Melbourne and surrounding Victoria state will lock down for seven weeks after eight new infections were detected in the city.
‘To be really frank, we don’t have enough people that have been vaccinated and, therefore, this is the only option available to us,’ Mr Andrews said.
‘The time will come when we have many more options. But that isn’t now.’
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Hundreds of anti-vaxxers gathered to oppose the new rules and shouted ‘freedom’ and ‘no lockdown’.
One man was filmed being pinned to the floor and arrested by police on the steps of the station.
Although some children were present on the rally, things quickly turned hostile and clashes broke out when protestors ignored police calls to move away.
Victoria Police made 15 arrests at the protest and will issue 16 others with fines for breaching public health orders.
They are also investigating the alleged assault of a police officer who was apparently pushed to the ground and kicked leaving him with ‘minor cuts and abrasions’.
Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said four of those arrested were known to police as protest organsiers.
‘Any offenders who are established to be repeat offenders will also face appropriate charges and be placed before the court to prevent their repeat offending,’ he said.
The latest Melbourne lockdown began as authorities flagged 14 sites where infections may have been passed on.
The new Covid exposure sites announced on Thursday night included two Virgin airlines flights, shopping centres and an airport terminal.
Mr Andrews has accused neighbouring New South Wales state of taking too long to lock down Sydney after a limousine driver who became infected while transporting a US aircrew from Sydney Airport tested positive to the Delta variant on June 16.
New South Wales on Thursday reported its worst day since the Sydney lockdown began on June 26 with a record 262 new local infections and five deaths.
The state’s premier Gladys Berejiklian said four of the dead had not been vaccinated. One had a single dose of the two-shot AstraZeneca vaccine in late May.
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