The anti-war demonstrators have engaged officers in a confrontational scuffle outside an arms fair in Melbourne over the growing sentiment that they want Australia to alter its policy on the Gaza war.
Police employed stun grenades, pepper spray, and what demonstrators termed ‘rubber bullets’ and detained 39 demonstrators on Wednesday when about 1200 protesters staged a protest march to the Land Forces 2024 military weapons fair. There have been many demonstrations against Australia’s arms industry in the conflict for the past 11 months.
‘We are protesting here today to speak for those who were shot by the kind of weapons produced in this convention,’ said Jasmine Duff from Students for Palestine. Some 1,800 police officers were deployed at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre that hosted the three-day weapons show. Contingents of protesters had estimated that up to 25,000 people were going to protest.
The police said protesters used rocks, horse manure, and bottles containing liquid substances that threatened officers’ lives, with some proven to be acid, hence forcing the police to use batons to disperse the group, leaving 24 officers needing treatment.
Some protesters used stones to attack the police, set car tires and burned in the street, blocked traffic, and …, But again, there was no loss of lives as was reported by the police; everyone involved had minor injuries only.
Several people were arrested for assaulting police, EDHEA members, arson and blocking of roads, and other offenses, as stated in the statement where police expressed their appeal for protesters’ behavior. The Disrupt War group, which participated in the protest, stated on Facebook that their message was clear.
The group said that police presence was characterized by the use of ‘extreme weaponry’ such as pepper spray, flash bangs, which is a type of stun grenades, and rubber bullets during the protests.
Chief Commissioner Shane Patton stated that the claims of using ‘rubber bullets’ in the course of protesting were false since the police used hard foam baton rounds.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said people have the right to protest but peacefully.
“You don’t say you’re opposed to defense equipment by throwing things at police. They’ve got a job to do, and our police officers should be respected at all times,” Albanese told Australia’s Channel Seven.
Australian media reported that the police operation in Melbourne had been the largest since 2000 when Australia’s second-largest city hosted the World Economic Forum.
About 1,000 exhibiting organizations from 31 countries are expected to attend the event through Friday, which the organizers said was Australia’s largest defense expo.
In February, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles insisted that there were “no exports of weapons from Australia to Israel, and there haven’t been for many, many years.”
However, the Australian government approved some 322 export permits for military and dual-use equipment to Israel between 2016 and 2023.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s data shows that Australian exports of “arms and ammunition” to Israel totaled 15.5 million Australian dollars ($10.1m) over the same period.
