Thousands of Palestinian supporters rally in Melbourne

Thousands of Palestinian supporters have rallied in Melbourne outside the state library.

Transcript

00:00 The crowd has slowly built from several hundred earlier today to probably several thousand

00:08 now and as you can see they've just begun marching down Swanson Street towards Flinders

00:15 Street.

00:16 They had been outside the State Library where there have been several protests over the

00:20 last couple of weeks.

00:21 This is probably one of the largest that's been in Melbourne.

00:25 Some of the, there's been a very large police presence here today but the protest has been

00:30 so far very peaceful.

00:32 There's been families here and children, many waving Palestinian flags and wearing Palestinian

00:38 colours and calling for an end to the conflict.

00:42 Speakers at the rally included Adam Bandt who's called unequivocally for a ceasefire

00:47 and also for an end to Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

00:51 Here's a bit more of what he had to tell reporters just before the rally.

00:55 There is a global push for peace with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets

01:03 around the world to say stop the war on Gaza and stop the invasion or a humanitarian crisis

01:12 is going to turn into a humanitarian catastrophe.

01:16 When our Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sits down with US President Joe Biden, they should

01:23 be working out a plan not just to ensure the immediate release of all the hostages but

01:30 for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the invasion of Gaza.

01:35 Sasha, are there other actions being planned?

01:41 Well yes, today's action is likely to take a little while longer as all these people

01:45 are swarmed down Swanston Street.

01:48 There were other protests yesterday in Sydney, Hobart, Perth and Brisbane and yes, there

01:53 is more action planned in Melbourne on Friday.

01:56 [BLANK_AUDIO]