00:00The Premier Jacinta Allen was very blunt in her assessment of some of the protesters actions
00:07yesterday, saying that it was appalling and disgraceful that they had resorted to violence
00:14and hurt police officers who were just trying to do their job. That's of course when police
00:19were forced, they say, to deploy flashbangs and also capsicum spray to subdue some of these
00:26protesters as they attempted to separate an anti-immigration rally from an anti-racism
00:32counter-protest in the heart of the CBD. And the Premier Jacinta Allen says it's clear that some
00:39people were there simply to protest for the sake of protesting. For some, a small number, they chose
00:46to come and bring violence to the streets. And I want to thank Victoria Police for the way they
00:52kept the community safe and dealt swiftly with this group of protesters who were choosing to use
01:00violence. And it was unacceptable. I'm absolutely clear that what happened in Melbourne yesterday
01:06was a violation of that obligation that everyone has in a democratic society that should you choose
01:12to protest, you must do so peacefully. What happened yesterday wasn't just unacceptable,
01:18it violated that principle. And she expects those who hurled rocks and other projectiles at police
01:24to face serious consequences. Now police have only arrested one person yesterday in relation to the
01:31protest, a 38-year-old woman from Brunswick West in Melbourne's inner north. However, they say that
01:38they have an abundance of CCTV footage and also video from the officers' body-worn cameras to be able to
01:45trawl through. And they say that they will be able to identify those responsible for the violence
01:51that left two police officers in hospital, a female sergeant who suffered a broken hand and also a male
01:59senior constable who had a leg laceration. And police say that they've had a gutful at these sorts of
02:05violent protesters, showing members of the media some of the projectiles that were hurled at officers,
02:10including rocks, as well as broken bottles, and also rotten fruit. And they say that some of the protesters
02:18hurled those projectiles with such force that some of their protective shields were also cracked during the
02:25melee. Now, they have said that despite concerns from the anti-racism protesters that nearly five of their own
02:34were hospitalized, they say that they don't know of any others who had to go to hospital apart from these
02:40two officers. And they've also defended their actions, saying that they are entitled to use force
02:47to be able to protect public safety. And they have been well and truly backed up by the Premier Jacinta
02:53Allen, who says that she will be introducing new laws into state parliament next month, which will further
03:00give police more powers in these sorts of events to clamp down on extremist and violent behaviour.
03:09She says that this has taken some time since they first announced those powers, for example,
03:15outlawing the use of masks at protests, because they wanted to consult widely. But she says police do have
03:21additional powers to be able to designate areas so they can deal with offenders on the spot,
03:27as well as some of those move on powers. And she fully expects that this will be supported
03:33through parliament to allow police to do their job.
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