{"id":315894,"date":"2025-10-19T11:44:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T11:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/315894\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T11:44:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T11:44:21","slug":"tensions-erupt-on-melbourne-streets-as-opposing-immigration-rallies-held-across-australian-capitals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/315894\/","title":{"rendered":"Tensions erupt on Melbourne streets as opposing immigration rallies held across Australian capitals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tensions have boiled over as anti-immigration and counter-protesters took to the streets of Melbourne and other capital cities for the second time in as many months, with two Victoria Police officers hospitalised following the protests.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of police officers, a group composed of both those in riot gear and mounted police, separated a March for Australia group estimated to be in the thousands, and a group of anti-racism protesters in Melbourne’s centre.<\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

Police formed lines to separate protesters in Melbourne. (ABC News: Natasha Schapova)<\/p>\n

March for Australia protesters were clad in Australian flags, with some waving anti-immigration banners.<\/p>\n

In contrast, counter-protesters carried a range of banners and signs with anti-fascist and anti-racist slogans, while others waved Palestinian, Somali and Aboriginal flags.<\/p>\n

One man was arrested in Melbourne, with police deploying crowd control measures, including OC (or pepper) spray, flash-bangs and rubber bullets during a tense stand-off with counter protesters.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

One protester was dragged out of the crowd and attended to after being sprayed by police. (ABC News: Natasha Schapova)<\/p>\n

Counter-protesters marched towards Parliament House, with the two protest groups meeting at the northern end of the CBD, separated by police.<\/p>\n

Loud bangs were heard and smoke was seen emanating from the middle of the protest groups, as demonstrators chanted slogans and held banners.<\/p>\n

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Crowds were eventually dispersed by riot police, who moved protest groups away from each other.<\/p>\n

Victoria Police condemned the violence in the streets on Sunday, which saw a female sergeant and a male senior constable hospitalised with non-life-threatening injuries.<\/p>\n

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Commander Wayne Cheeseman said police officers were pelted with rocks, glass bottles and rotten fruit while trying to protect protesters and the community.<\/p>\n

“This is what was thrown at police today, and I think Melbourne has had a gutful,” he said, showing a large rock to reporters.<\/p>\n

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Commander Cheeseman said certain ideologically motivated groups came to the protest specifically looking to attack police.<\/p>\n

“The people that came to pick a fight with police were the issue-motivated people on the left,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The March for Australia group were peaceful, were engaging, they listened to our instructions.”<\/p>\n

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said it appeared “some people just want to protest for the sake of protest”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“While they have the right to do so in a democratic system, they have an obligation to do it peacefully.<\/p>\n

“The moment they get violent like they did today \u2014 picking up rocks and hurling them at police \u2014 they deserve to face serious consequences.”<\/p>\n

Lower turnout nationally than August rallies<\/p>\n

It is the second such clash in as many months in Melbourne, after an initial round of March for Australia rallies was held across the country<\/a> in August.<\/p>\n

But across the city, ABC reporters noted lower turnouts for the March for Australia rallies this time around.<\/p>\n

Matt Trihey, who spoke at the March for Australia event in Melbourne, told rally attendees not to be disappointed by the turnout.<\/p>\n

Mr Trihey, from the National Workers Alliance, a self-described movement “dedicated to the preservation of Western culture and identity”, who he said organised today’s rally in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

He has previously claimed people with “European blood” face an “existential threat” from immigration.<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Trihey is from a nationalist organisation dedicated to “the preservation of Western culture and identity”. (ABC News: Ben Knight)<\/p>\n

Responding to questions from the ABC ahead of the rally, Mr Trihey said he had never been a member of a neo-Nazi organisation.<\/p>\n

“The National Worker’s Alliance is a nationalist organisation,” Mr Trihey said at the Melbourne event.<\/p>\n

“We currently advocate for the people of European descent in the same way every other ethnic group racial group should and does advocate for themselves.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, hundreds of people joined March for Australia and anti-racism rallies in Canberra today, with the two groups clashing at Commonwealth Bridge.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Drone images captured March for Australia protesters crossing Canberra’s Commonwealth Bridge. (ABC News: Simon Beardsell)<\/p>\n

More than 300 people took part in the March for Australia rally, meeting at the Captain James Cook Memorial and walking across the Commonwealth Bridge to Parliament House.<\/p>\n

The two groups clashed on the other side of the bridge, with protesters on both sides screaming at each other during the confrontation.<\/p>\n

Tensions flared as police worked to keep them apart. Two people were arrested but were later released.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Police detained multiple protesters in Canberra. (ABC News: Peter Lusted)<\/p>\n

In Brisbane, crowds were more subdued, with several thousand marching at the March for Australia rally, including federal MP Bob Katter and One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts.<\/p>\n

Many waved Australia and Eureka flags, and held placards saying “end mass immigration” and “net zero is ruining our country” amid a heavy police presence.<\/p>\n

\"MP<\/p>\n

MP Bob Katter joined the March for Australia protesters in Brisbane. (ABC News: Will Murray)<\/p>\n

Mr Katter was cheered by crowds in Brisbane as he took to the stage to the tune of AC\/DC’s Thunderstruck to speak.<\/p>\n

As part of his wide-ranging address, he called for “no migration without assimilation”.<\/p>\n

In Sydney, about 5,000 anti-immigration protesters were estimated to have made their way through the CBD after meeting at Hyde Park, with the Unite Against Racism counter-rally also present in the city centre.<\/p>\n

Sunday’s event was markedly different and smaller to the March for Australia event held in the city in August.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Numbers were reduced in Sydney compared to a previous rally in August. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Neo-Nazi figures who were prominent at the previous event were not seen to be leading or speaking at the gathering.<\/p>\n

Members of the crowd carried Australian flags and sang Waltzing Matilda and other Aussie classics as they marched from Hyde Park along Margaret, York and Druitt streets.<\/p>\n

Police said the group was well behaved, with only one protester moved on after holding up the rally.<\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

A counter protest in Sydney was monitored by police. (ABC News: Nick Dole)<\/p>\n

A separate Unite Against Racism rally also marched through the streets of Sydney, chanting: “March for Australia, you can’t hide. You’ve got Nazis on your side.”<\/p>\n

The group made its way to the southern edge of Hyde Park, but a heavy police presence ensured the two protest groups did not meet each other.<\/p>\n

In Adelaide, the organiser of the city’s August March for Australia event, Mark Aldridge, was out on the streets once again, but this time joined the counter-protest.<\/p>\n

He told the ABC it had become clear to him that the March for Australia rally had racist overtones, which he disagreed with.<\/p>\n

“The initial rally when I got involved was meant to be about the lack of supply of services for the migration numbers they were bringing in,” Mr Aldridge said.<\/p>\n

“I tried to send that messaging, it was very quickly assessable that that wasn’t the messaging that was meant to be on the day.”<\/p>\n

The August rally ended after an altercation broke out when a man who identified himself as a member of the National Socialist Network took to the stage to call for an end to immigration.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The March for Australia rally in Darwin got off to a false start on Sunday. (ABC News: Pete Garnish)<\/p>\n

In Darwin, the beginning of the March for Australia rally was marked with confusion about the event’s start time.<\/p>\n

Around 30 people gathered in Civic Park at 10:30am, local time, adorned in Australian and Eureka flags.<\/p>\n

Following a brief discussion, the crowd decided to regather at 12pm, with some attendees noting they had seen different start times advertised on various platforms.<\/p>\n

Australians voice opposing views on city streets<\/p>\n

The protests on Sunday attracted a range of Australians with conflicting views on immigration.<\/p>\n

Tim, who joined Melbourne’s counter-protests as part of a contingent of university students and staff, said he attended to send a message to the anti-immigration protesters.<\/p>\n

“Unfortunately, not for the first time, we’ve seen racist, far-right agitators marching through our streets here in the heart of Melbourne,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We want to go and confront them, to outnumber them, to show them that this is an anti-racist town, that they’re not welcome here, that migrants and refugees are welcome here.”<\/p>\n

He said the police had “shamefully” blocked the group from doing so.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Tim, who attended a at a Melbourne CBD counter rally. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Sean Plesa was one of the protesters who turned up early at Melbourne’s March for Australia rally, carrying an Australian flag and an Eureka Stockade flag.<\/p>\n

“I’m here to stand for my country and just show my support for what I stand for, which is Australia first,” Mr Plesa said.<\/p>\n

“We have our own problems here and I think we should solve our own problems first.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sean Plesa at the rally. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Mr Plesa said the protest was not against immigration, but against mass immigration.<\/p>\n

“There are more immigrants coming into the country than there are homes being built,” he said.<\/p>\n

In Canberra, protester Craig echoed the same sentiments.<\/p>\n

“We’re here with concerns about mass migration \u2014 and I emphasise mass migration \u2014 we are not racists, we’re not rednecks, we’re ordinary Australians who are concerned about the future of our country,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Too many people are coming here too quickly, there’s not enough housing and there’s not enough services and facilities, and there’s a lot of people struggling.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, across the city, protester Anne-Marie, who has been supporting a newly arrived refugee, joined the 150 protesters on the lawns of the National Library.<\/p>\n

“Refugees and migrants have contributed hugely to Australian society,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We have been a very successful multicultural nation and I’m certainly doing my best to ensure that we keep that openness \u2014 it benefits all of us.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tensions have boiled over as anti-immigration and counter-protesters took to the streets of Melbourne and other capital cities…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":315895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[25403,158858,121020,4740,10934,158857,4537,13265,409,102127,50,158859,40739,19127,13048,158860,18397,8572],"class_list":{"0":"post-315894","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-adelaide","9":"tag-aimti-immigration","10":"tag-anti-racism","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-brisbane","13":"tag-clash-police","14":"tag-crowd","15":"tag-darwin","16":"tag-immigration","17":"tag-march-for-australia","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-pritest","20":"tag-protesters","21":"tag-rally","22":"tag-sydney","23":"tag-unite-against-racism","24":"tag-vic","25":"tag-violence"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115400662732283742","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}