Melbourne descends into chaos as thousands of wild A-League fans set off flares and heavily armed police are called in
Australian football fans flooded Melbourne 's streets, chanting anti-police slogans and letting off flares, in the lead-up to Saturday's A-League grand final.
Melbourne City conquered rivals Melbourne Victory 1-0 at AAMI Park in front of almost 30,000 supporters.
Before kick off, Victoria Police arrested a fan outside Precinct Hotel, pulling him through the crowd as hundreds marched to the stadium, The Herald Sun reported.
In an attempt to control the flow of fans, at least 100m of traffic barricades were installed along the pub strip on Swan Street in Richmond.
Police blocked it at 5:30pm and instructed fans to change their direction away from the railway bridge: 'No one under the bridge, no foot traffic under the bridge,' police said.
Supporters could be heard yelling anti-police chants at G bar, a popular spot for Victory fans.
They also lit bright flares below Richmond railway bridge.
Footage taken on the Richmond streets showed officers standing in two rows as the crowd grew louder.
Victoria Police said on Friday that officers would focus on preventing and de-escalating any incidents.
The public was also warned officers would have 'zero tolerance' for anyone engaging in reckless or anti-social behaviour, before or after the match.
Two weeks before the final, on May 17, Victoria Police said a group of soccer fans lit around 15 flares under a bridge on Swan Street while marching to a game.
They said billowing smoke under the train line could disrupt the public transport network.
Police bolstered resourcing around the stadium on Saturday night, surrounding licensed venues and public transport hubs throughout Richmond and the CBD.
Officers worked with the mounted brigade, highway patrol, and the public order response team.
Fortunately, fans were able to exit the grand final without incident.
The police effort was carried out with the aim of avoiding a repeat of the shocking scenes from an infamous Mlebourne derby in 2022 that saw a pitch invasion and 29 arrests.
Approximately 150 Victory supporters stormed the pitch that day, unleashing 80 flares or fireworks and forcing the abandonment of the Melbourne derby.
Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover left the field bleeding from a head wound.
Referee Alex King, two security guards and a camera operator were also injured following the mayhem.
It followed a portion of Victory fans announcing plans pre-game via an Instagram page titled Original Style Melbourne (OSM) to storm the pitch after 20 minutes.
The action was in protest of the controversial decision to hand Sydney grand final hosting rights until 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
23 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
What other things Jim Chalmers could tax as Aussies face big slugs - on top of booze, tobacco, property... (the list goes on!): PETER VAN ONSELEN
Labor is back in power for at least another three years - given the size of its thumping election victory it's more staying there for another six years at a minimum. And with that certainty comes instant talk of new taxes, despite election commitments to the contrary. Labor's climate and energy spokesman, Chris Bowen, has said that he's open to a carbon tariff on certain products to help Australia meet its 2030 emissions targets. Labor backbencher and medical doctor Mike Freelander wants a sugar tax to help tackle obesity and diabetes. Then there is the super tax set to be legislated when parliament returns at the end of July. This new tax was at least part of Labor's election manifesto, even if it was hardly a central issue during the campaign. And there is speculation that negative gearing concessions and perhaps even the capital gains tax (CGT) break too are up for discussion. The problem with all of the above isn't that changes to the tax and spend system should be off limits. It's not even that most of the options being looked at weren't flagged at the election, or that a number of them were specifically ruled out. The real issue is that what is being looked at is piecemeal and not part of a proper tax reform package that balances tax increases with tax cuts, thereby improving the efficiency of the system at the same time as ensuring that government taxes and spending don't just keep increasing. The pre-election budget already highlighted that the tax-to-GDP ratio is at near record levels, with spending as a percentage of GDP even higher. The government uses the latter to justify more taxes, rather than as a reason to stop the record spending because it's unsustainable. I have no problem in principle with sin taxes such as on sugary products. They mirror other sin taxes on tobacco, alcohol or on industry designed to push down emissons. There is a logic to such a shake-up, as long as cutting other taxes forms part of the discussion. But Australia has shied away from wholesale tax reform ever since Kevin Rudd ignored many of Ken Henry's recommendations in his 2009 tax reform paper, and when Malcolm Turnbull junked the tax and federation white papers Tony Abbott commissioned before losing the prime ministership in a coup. Boomers with more than $3million in super are set to be slugged if the government can get its proposal past the Senate at the end of July Instead these taxes are embraced not as part of a wider review to improve efficiencies and better target who and what to tax, but as a simple revenue grab to keep chasing growing spending which needs to be reined in. The design of the superannuation tax will, in decades to come, turn it into a virtual inheritance tax, given that it's not indexed and will over time engulf many more Australians ' super savings than it will at the point of implementation. The flagging of other taxes to be debated and likely introduced in coming budgets is a sign that Labor is confident in its victory. The size of its victory will neuter the Coalition for years to come. But that confidence should extend to emulating the reforming credentials of the Hawke and Howard administrations. Reforming the GST is another area of tax that needs to be looked at, again with tax cuts in other areas (such as on income taxes for example) as part of the discussion. Let's hope that the growing calls within Labor for higher taxes isn't just as a case of Labor's back - and so are the taxes.
Reuters
24 minutes ago
- Reuters
Australia's BlueScope surges on Trump's plan to double tariffs on steel imports
June 2 (Reuters) - Shares of Australian steel producer BlueScope Steel ( opens new tab jumped on Monday to a more than three-month high after U.S. President Donald Trump said he planned to double tariffs on imported steel. Shares of BlueScope, which operates five businesses in North America including the North Star mill in Ohio, were up as much as 9.4% at A$24.88 in early trade. The stock was among the top performers in the broader ASX 200 benchmark index (.AXJO), opens new tab, which was down 0.4%. Trump on Friday said that he planned to double tariffs on imported steel and aluminium to 50%, ratcheting up pressure on global steel producers and deepening his trade war. These proposed tariffs could bode well for BlueScope in enhancing steel prices in the U.S., thus driving tailwinds for the company, said Grady Wulff, a market analyst at Bell Direct. In mid-February, the stock rose 12% after the company's chief executive Mark Vassella said that the business could benefit from Trump's protectionist tariffs. However, shares have slipped nearly 10% since Vassella's statements. Uncertainty of a rebound in demand from China for steel and steelmaking ingredients has weighed on all companies with exposure to this market, Wulff said, along with tariffs which are increasing uncertainty around the recovery of demand for steel-related materials. BlueScope has borne the brunt of weak iron ore prices, which have fallen 3.5% so far this year. North America was BlueScope's biggest revenue-generating segment in the six months to December 31, 2024, accounting for 42%, or A$309 million ($199.77 million), of all underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation. Australia made up 39%, or A$288 million. ($1 = 1.5468 Australian dollars)
Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Lleyton Hewitt's son Cruz suffers big setback in his quest to follow in his dad's footsteps
Cruz Hewitt has rekindled memories of his dad Lleyton's battling heyday as he went down fighting in his first-round contest in the boys' event at the French Open. The 16-year-old son of Australia's former world No.1, who had gone through qualifying to make the event at Roland Garros, proved a handful on Sunday for Italian Pierluigi Basile, two years his senior and higher-placed in the world junior standings, before succumbing 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-3. Hewitt lost the tightest of opening sets on a breaker and looked practically down and out as Basile served for the match at 5-3 in the second set and earned a match point at 5-4, but the Sydney youngster fought tigerishly to turn it around and take the match into a decider. The Italian had the superior firepower but Hewitt wouldn't lie down, revving up the the galleries packed round the tight court No.4 with the sort of crowd-rousing exhortations taken straight from his father's book. Ultimately, he lost in two hours 10 minutes, unable to reach the second round as he had done at the junior event in January at the Australian Open, where he also lost in the first round in the qualifiers for the senior event. The loss marked Cruz's grand slam return after his time at this year's tournament in Melbourne was marked by controversy surrounding him and fellow Aussie Nick Kyrgios. Kyrgios was accused of harassing Hewitt over a photo the youngster posted to social media showing him posing with world No.1 Jannik Sinner, who was awaiting his punishment for breaching anti-doping rules at the time. Kyrgios, who has been a vocal critic of Sinner, was not happy at seeing the 16-year-old with the Italian. Kyrgios commented under Cruz's post: 'Love ya Cruz but this is wild', then later adding 'Cooked post' with a needle emoji. The Aussie firebrand also wrote: 'Thought we were boys' with several broken-heart emojis, with his comments drawing heavy fire from tennis fans and great of the game Andy Roddick. Kyrgios later explained that he's good friends with Cruz and his remarks were a joke between the pair. On Monday, 16-year-old Emerson Jones, the world's No.2 female junior, kicks off her campaign as top seed in the girls' event against US qualifier Capucine Jauffret, while the other Australian in the boys' tournament Ty Host will face US sixth seed Benjamin Willwerth. Hewitt wasn't the only son of a famous player to feature in Sunday's program, with fifth seed Jagger Leach, whose mother is American former triple grand slam winner Lindsay Davenport, beating Kazakh Zangar Nurlanuly 6-1 1-6 6-0.
