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| Police Clash with Leftwing Protesters |
In the heart of Melbourne's bustling CBD, what started as dueling rallies over immigration—one anti-immigration, the other a staunch defense against racism—spiraled into chaos on Sunday, October 19, 2025. Rocks flew like missiles, glass bottles shattered against riot shields, and the air thickened with the acrid sting of pepper spray and burning flags. Two Victoria Police officers ended up in hospital, their bodies bearing the brutal marks of the fray: a serious hand laceration for one, a deep gash to the leg for the other. By Monday morning, as the city licked its wounds, Premier Jacinta Allan faced a barrage of questions in a media conference that crackled with tension. Her response? A firm denial that Victoria—or Melbourne—has any "problem" with violent protests at all.A Clash of Ideologies Turns UglyThe flashpoint was an anti-immigration rally organised by the group March for Australia, drawing hundreds who waved signs decrying what they see as unchecked migration policies fueling housing crises and cultural shifts. Countering them was the "United Against Racism: Migrants and Refugees Are Welcome" demonstration, organized to push back against what participants called a toxic "white Australia" ideology. Similar events unfolded peacefully in other Australian cities that day, but Melbourne's turned feral.
As police formed human barricades to keep the groups apart, a subset of counter-protesters—described by authorities as a "very small number" hell-bent on confrontation—unleashed hell. Large rocks capable of "killing someone," bottles packed with jagged glass shards, rotten fruit, and eggs rained down on officers trying to hold the line. Bins erupted in flames, an Australian flag went up in smoke, and the scene devolved into what one police superintendent likened to the gritty street battles of 1970s Northern Ireland. Victoria Police responded with a toolkit straight out of crowd-control 101: flash bangs to disorient, pepper spray to scatter, and rubber bullets to enforce distance. One dramatic clip shows an officer tackling a protester to the ground amid the melee. By the end, one 30-year-old woman from Brunswick faced charges for resisting arrest, bailed to court in May 2026. Counter-protesters claimed up to five of their own were hospitalized from police aggression, but authorities say they have no record of it.
Police were unequivocal in their fury. Superintendent Wayne Cheeseman, holding aloft a fist-sized rock at a presser, declared Melbourne had "had a gutful" of agitators itching for a fight. The police union echoed the sentiment, calling the violence "filthy and disgusting." And they laid blame squarely at the feet of left-wing groups within the counter-protest, praising the anti-immigration organizers for staying compliant. This wasn't isolated mayhem. It caps a grim streak for Melbourne: daylight stabbings, machete attacks, and a nagging sense that the city's streets are losing their sheen of safety. Readers of local papers are venting frustration, with one Herald Sun poll showing many believe these protests are "ruining lives" in the CBD. Even rally organizers on the anti-fascist side have been slow to condemn the rock-throwers, drawing sharp criticism.
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| Melbourne is Safe |
Allan's Tense Defense: "Melbourne Is Safe"Enter Premier Allan, stepping into the media glare on October 20 with a message that felt more like a stiff upper lip than a reality check. Flanked by officials, she dismissed any notion of a systemic issue with violent protests in her state. "Victoria does not have a problem with violent protests," she insisted, pinning the blame on a "very small number" of counter-protesters who showed up "for the sake of protesting" and with violence in mind. The conference turned prickly as journalists pressed her on the optics: officers down, a city scarred, and a premier doubling down on normalcy. Allan thanked police for their "swift" handling and reaffirmed that Melbourne remains "safe." She drew a clear line between this "different pattern of behaviour" from a "very, very different set of people" and the city's history of peaceful demonstrations—like the pro-Palestine rallies that have drawn thousands without incident over the past two years. Police Minister Anthony Carbines jumped in to back the blue line, defending the rubber bullets and spray as essential for "maintaining the peace." No apologies, he said—protesters who get too close and too violent have no one to blame but themselves. Allan nodded along, touting upcoming laws by year's end to crack down on masks and "extremist behaviour" at protests. But she swatted away calls for a NSW-style permit system, arguing it hasn't tamed Sydney's streets either. Public Backlash: "Safe? Really?"Allan's assurances haven't landed well. On X (formerly Twitter), the backlash is swift and searing. A former Victoria Police senior sergeant, now an outspoken critic, posted a video of the chaos with a pointed query: "Jacinta Allan has said despite the violent protests and Victoria Police injuries (by Left-Wing agitators), Melbourne CBD is a safe place to be.Is Denial the Best Policy?Look, Allan's got a point—most protests in Victoria are peaceful, and pinning this on a "small number" of bad actors isn't wrong. But in a city reeling from stabbings and now this? Denying a "problem" feels like gaslighting the ground truth. Police are stretched thin, officers are hurting, and residents are eyeing the CBD with fresh wariness. These clashes aren't just about immigration; they're a symptom of deeper fractures—housing squeezes, cultural clashes, and a national debate that's gone Trumpian, as Labor itself warns. The premier's right that police have the tools, but do they have the political will to wield them without blowback? And those new laws on masks? A start, but they'll need teeth if they're not to become another feel-good headline. Melbourne's always been a protest hub—vibrant, vocal, sometimes volatile. But when "welcome" signs turn to weaponized glass, it's time to ask: How safe is safe, really?As the smoke clears (literally), one thing's clear: Victoria's streets deserve better than denial. They deserve action—swift, unapologetic, and eyes-wide-open. Premier Allan, the ball's in your court. What's the play?
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