Pro-Palestine student protesters to pack up camp after “major win”

Pro-Palestinian student protesters at the University of Melbourne are set to pack up their camp today after claiming what they say is a major win.

Transcript

00:00 Well there's no sign of movement or a pack down happening here on the Parkville campus

00:06 yet.

00:07 There are still tents lining the ground floor of the Arts West building behind me and even

00:10 more tents still on the south lawn nearby where the encampment has been set up for a

00:15 month now.

00:16 But it does look like the protest could be coming to an end today after protesters spent

00:21 an eighth night inside the Arts West building.

00:24 They say the university has agreed to disclose all ties to weapons manufacturers, which is

00:29 of course one of the key demands the protesters here have been pushing for.

00:32 It's part of a broader push from student protesters around the country for universities to cut

00:37 their ties with weapons manufacturers.

00:40 The actual cutting of ties doesn't seem to be happening just yet but the protesters here

00:45 say the disclosure of ties is enough for them to be willing to pack up their camp and they

00:50 say that'll happen as soon as the university makes that commitment publicly.

00:54 We haven't heard that from the university yet.

00:55 So far all they've had to say is a one word statement saying they welcome the willingness

01:00 of the protesters to pack up and leave.

01:02 We're expecting a statement from the University of Melbourne later today and then we're expecting

01:07 the pack up to begin here.

01:10 As we approach the end of the university teaching semester we are seeing some of the other protest

01:14 camps around the country begin to pack up as well.

01:16 La Trobe and Monash here and Melbourne protesters there have already packed up.

01:19 That's amid threats of disciplinary action against the students from the universities.

01:24 Deakin University here in Melbourne as well also planning to end its protest camp today.

01:29 Although we are still seeing other protest camps continuing at RMIT, at ANU in Canberra,

01:34 at the University of Sydney and at other locations.

01:37 As the universities really struggle to grapple with not wanting to meet the demands the protesters

01:41 are calling for but also not wanting to repeat the scenes we saw in the US where there was

01:46 violence and mass arrests as police moved into university campuses to forcibly remove

01:51 the protesters.

01:54 If the University of Melbourne does commit to what the protesters say they have agreed

01:58 to do it would be what would have to be one of the first major concessions of a university

02:03 to the protesters here in Melbourne.

02:06 Whether or not they make those commitments we'll have to wait until later this afternoon.

02:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]