Anti-vaxxers ‘hijack’ Covid curbs protest in Melbourne
AN AUSTRALIAN union leader condemned protesters as “drunken, fascist, un-australian morons” after he and his officials were pelted in violent demonstrations against Covid restrictions led by builders and bolstered by Rightwing and anti-vaccine groups.
Police fired pepper balls and rubber pellets outside the union’s headquarters in Melbourne yesterday to disperse 2,000 protesters who defied stay-athome orders to damage property, block a busy freeway and injure three officers, leading to more than 60 arrests.
Construction workers are incensed by the requirement that all staff must have received at least one jab by the end of the week to return to work.
The Construction, Forestry, Maritime,
‘Thanks to these morons, 300,000 Victorians are sitting at home for at least the next couple of weeks’
Mining and Energy Union does not support vaccination mandates, but has encouraged workers to get the jab.
Authorities also announced yesterday that they would close construction sites for two weeks, saying movement of workers was spreading the virus.
John Setka, the union’s leader, said that he believed the protest had been “hijacked” by “extreme organisations” opposed to restrictions.
“There were a few anti-vaxxer activists there who are not union members or are from our industry. They’re the ones you see at all the protests,” he said.
“Thanks to these morons, 300,000 Victorians are sitting at home for at least the next couple of weeks. It could drag out even longer.”
In eight hours of protests, demonstrators threw rocks, bottles and flares at union officials and police. A reporter was attacked twice, with rioters throwing cans and bottles of urine at him.