Protest costs $2.5m

The Police Association president said spending on the Parliament protest was justified, but it was frustrating. Police spent more than $2.5 million responding to the antimandate occupation of Parliament grounds — $1m on accommodation for officers, more than $600,000 on travel, and about $300,000 on feeding them. Chris Cahill said it was the unfortunate price of such a major operation. He said the figures weren’t surprising given the operation’s length and how many officers were needed. But it was still disappointing.