Cops arrest 10 in Australia over lockdown protests
CANBERRA: Ten people were arrested and a police officer injured yesterday at an anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne, where demonstrators claimed coronavirus was a government-engineered conspiracy designed to control the population.
About 150 protesters rallied outside Victoria’s state parliament to protest against a shutdown aimed at stemming the spread of Covid-19, while also peddling conspiracy theories about the virus. Most Australian states and territories have begun easing restrictions, but Victoria has delayed relaxing its measures amid an outbreak at a Melbourne slaughterhouse that caused a spike in new cases.
In scenes reminiscent of anti-lockdown protests in the United States, demonstrators carried placards reading “fight for your freedom and rights”, and directed their ire at the founder of Microsoft, chanting “arrest Bill Gates”. Fano Panayides, 37, said he was sceptical of the government declaring the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, saying he believed it was a cover for authorities to gain greater control over the population. “If this thing was half as deadly as they said it was, with half the population out there still working — even with the lockdown orders — this thing would’ve spread like wildfire through Australia. There’d be no stopping it,” he said.
Health experts credit Australia’s success in curbing the spread of Covid-19 to an effective nationwide shutdown. A spokeswoman for Victoria police said most of those who were arrested had breached social distancing and stayat-home orders. “Three of the offenders will also be charged with assaulting a police officer, and another offender will be charged with discharging a missile after allegedly throwing a bottle at police,” she said. Australia has recorded about 7,000 cases of Covid-19 and less than 100 deaths from the virus.