Melbourne anti-lockdown protest over in mere minutes
It was touted by organisers as “the big one” — but instead, yesterday’s brief anti-lockdown action has been mocked as the “worst protest ever”.
The anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne was over in a matter of minutes, with participants dispersing “like water” to avoid capture by police.
About 700 people had signed up to the action online, but only around 100 showed up outside Coles at
Chadstone shopping centre.
The crowd chanted John Farnham’s anthem You’re the Voice and then fled before police arrived at the scene.
In all, the rally lasted less than five minutes — but is still being hailed a “victory” by organisers.
The action has been brutally mocked on social media by fellow Aussies, with commenters branding participants “COVIDIOTS” and calling it the “worst protest ever”.
Meanwhile, Premier Daniel Andrews has stood by the controversial decision not to fine residents who flouted virus restrictions to visit each other in lockdown, sparking the
Casey cluster.
There are now 40 cases across five households associated with the outbreak — but no penalties have been handed out.
Andrews said the call not to fine those individuals meant they were likely to be more honest and open about their movements, and that the information was more valuable than a fine.
“The truth is worth everything,” Andrews said. “If we don’t get full and accurate information, thenwe won’t get on top of this outbreak.”
He said “it only takes a handful” of individuals to lie to authorities for a cluster to surge, which would be disastrous to the economy.
“I’m not talking about thousands of dollars — I’m talking about billions of dollars. That is the cost of not being open,” he said.
Andrews said he was “not expecting everyone to be happy with that”.
“The real riches are not in fining people for telling the truth to a contact tracer,” he said.