Group's ‘deplorable' Palestine protest act

Perth Now

6 hours ago

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has slammed the 'deplorable' actions of a group of protesters who burned the Australian flag during a pro-Palestine rally at the weekend.
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Melbourne in support of Palestine, calling for an end to the humanitarian crisis that has gripped the Gaza Strip for months.
A planned crossing of the King St Bridge was stopped by police in riot gear – leading to confrontations and protesters splintering off and heading back to their starting point at the State Library.
Extraordinary scenes emerged on the Spencer St bridge after some protesters stopped on the side of the road. Wild scenes of pro-Palestine protesters burning the Australian flag along Spencer St in Melbourne have been condemned by Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan. 9 News Credit: Channel 9 The group also spray-painted 'Abolish Australia' on the road and broke out into chants of 'death, death, death to the IDF'. NewsWire / Josie Hayden Credit: News Corp Australia
Photos and footage at the scene capture the masked demonstrators burning the Australian flag and spray-painting 'Abolish Australia' on the road.
Some broke out into chants of 'Death, death, death to the IDF' – referring to the Israeli Defence Force.
Speaking on the Today show on Monday, Ms Allan condemned the incident.
'It's deplorable, it's a deplorable action' she told the program.
Ms Allan reiterated the rest of the protest was 'peaceful' and there were no arrests. The massive group were blocked from crossing the King St Bridge. NewsWire / Josie Hayden Credit: News Corp Australia
She said it was 'completely cowardly' to turn up to protests while masked, as it could 'only signal the intent'.
Footage from Channel 9 captured the group disrupting traffic – one furious woman on her way to hospital getting out of her car to give them a spray.
It is not clear whether the group are associated with the Palestine Action Group, which organised the protest along the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The group has been contacted for comment.
Australia has no law that specifically criminalises the burning of the national flag.
In NSW, historic scenes emerged on Sunday as almost 100,000 demonstrators peacefully marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge after attempts to block the protest failed in court.
Protesters crossed the bridge about 2pm, chanting 'free, free Palestine' and waving placards. Ms Allan said the majority of the protest was 'peaceful'. NewsWire / Josie Hayden Credit: News Corp Australia
NSW Police were on scene to keep the peace after their attempt to stop the demonstration – on the grounds it would endanger public safety – failed.
At 3pm, they issued an urgent request for protesters to stop the march on safety fears, citing a possible 'crush' at the northern end of the bridge.
'Participants have been asked to stop proceedings across the bridge to avoid a crowd crush at the northern end of the harbour bridge,' the police said in what they called a 'protest safety intervention'.
'Once the procession has come to a halt, protesters will be asked to turn around and walk back toward Wynyard to avoid a risk of injury due to the huge number of people taking part.
'Police believe the safest route back is to walk back across the bridge given the huge numbers to avoid overwhelming the public transport system and a potential crowd crush scenario.'
The rally otherwise proceeded peacefully and without any significant incidents.
Famous faces joined in the protest, including former NSW Labor titan and former foreign affairs minister Bob Carr, soccer icon Craig Foster and Julian Assange.
Boxer Anthony Mundine and journalist Antoinette Lattouf were also spotted in the crowd.