Thousands take to Melbournes CBD to protest new pandemic laws vaccine mandate

Thousands of demonstrators have gathered in Melbourne’s CBD, protesting against vaccine mandates and the state’s new pandemic laws.

Since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted last month, crowds at regular weekend rallies in the city, initially protesting lockdown, have steadily grown.

Crowds marched through the CBD towards Parliament House.Credit:Luis Ascui

As speakers addressed the crowd, the protest remained peaceful. Age reporters heard some protesters shout threats to the Premier and one man carried makeshift gallows with three nooses hanging from it as he marched through the streets.

The crowd, which included a mix of families with children, the old and the young, made its way through the city from the State Library, spilling onto Swanston Street and blocking tram lines as they made their way to Parliament House.

Several banners likened the Victorian government to the Nazis and advocated for violence against politicians.

Former Liberal MP Craig Kelly, head of the independent United Australia Party, railed against the vaccination of children and vaccine passports.

“We have a lot of fights ahead of us, the most important fight is to protect our children,” he told protesters. “We are being governed by medical bureaucrats that are part of a mad, insane cult.”

Mr Kelly has been admonished in the past for his unsubstantiated claims around COVID-19 and vaccines.

Craig Kelly spoke to protesters on Saturday.

As the crowd broke into chants of “Kelly, Kelly, Kelly” Mr Kelly said the party would be running candidates in all 151 seats at the next federal election.

Victorian MP Bernie Finn also spoke to Saturday’s crowd. “Enough is enough,” he said. “We must kill this bill.”

Mr Finn also voiced his support for Sunshine-based GP Dr Mark Hobart. Last week The Age revealed he was the subject of an investigation into fraudulent vaccine records.

Some speakers pointed to the QAnon conspiracy theory, including singer Claire Woodley, daughter of The Seekers band member Bruce Woodley, who addressed the crowd saying she wanted to dedicate a performance of I am Australia to the “victims of satanic ritual abuse” - a common talking point in Qanon.

Protesters on Saturday.Credit:Luis Ascui

IT worker Greg Ooi came to the protest with his wife Alice Foo and their three children. Mr Ooi said he wanted to protest vaccine mandates and said it was the first time the family had attended a rally.

Saturday’s protests follow several other large CBD demonstrations against vaccine mandates and pandemic legislation, including one last week when more than 3000 people marched into the streets.

Protesters on Saturday.Credit:Luis Ascui

The new pandemic laws, which are set to replace state-of-emergency powers when they expire on December 15, will give the premier and health minister of the day the authority to declare a pandemic and make public health orders.

They will also curtail the role of the chief health officer.

The Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (pandemic management) Bill 2021 passed the lower house last month, and the government is now hoping it will pass the upper house next week with the support of three crossbenchers.

The opposition, which has openly lashed the legislation as “the most dangerous piece of legislation” it has seen, has vowed to derail the process by refusing leave to debate the laws, delaying the debate until at least Wednesday.

Mr Andrews has previously said the legislation is an improvement to human rights and government transparency, but lawyers claim the laws will give politicians “a blank cheque to rule by decree” and are unlikely to achieve the outcomes promised in its current form.

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