Anti-vax protesters ambush cops, smash police cars and take over bridge in violent Melbourne protest

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Violent anti-vax protesters ambushed riot cops and smashing up police squad cars as construction worker demonstrations on the streets of Melbourne descended into chaos for the second day running. 

Footage showed tradesmen in hi-vis clothing kicking police cars and attempting to tear off their side mirrors in the Australian city’s central business district as thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the state Parliament House on Tuesday.

Riot police were then seen advancing in formation on the rioters before firing tear gas.

Earlier, a Channel 7 TV reporter was assaulted by a protester and had bags filled with urine thrown at him. The demonstrators then blocked the West Gate Bridge – a major freeway into the city – bringing traffic to a standstill at peak hour.

Building industry workers and anti-vaxxers were out protesting for a second consecutive day – many of them distraught after a tradesman took his own life at a construction site on Tuesday morning.

The man’s body was found at a building site in West Melbourne hours after Victoria state premier Daniel Andrews announced his decision to shut the construction industry down for two weeks amid rising coronavirus case numbers and poor adherence to pandemic health measures.

The worker, who is believed to be from Croatia, is yet to be publicly named. 

Demonstrators sung the Australian national anthem and chanted ‘f*** the jab’ in protest against mandatory vaccination orders and the industry shutdown.

The protest began outside the boarded up head office of the construction union, the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), which had been badly damaged by violent demonstrations just 24 hours earlier.   

More than 100 police officers walked up a major central thoroughfare in pursuit of the crowd, with officers warning demonstrators over loudspeaker to turn back.

‘Attention, this is a police public order warning. You have previously been directed to leave,’ an officer inside a line of riot police and officers on horseback told the crowd.

‘Leave now or force may be used. No further warnings will be given.’

By 2.30pm, the protest had reached the city’s West Gate Bridge, with demonstrators bringing traffic to a standstill before breaking out into a rendition of 90s hit The Horses by Daryl Braithwaite as they marched across the bridge.

One vocal protester was heard shouting ‘this is our bridge’ as demonstrators threw a ladder across the road to block traffic. 

Traffic heading inbound towards Melbourne was backed up for almost four miles as hundreds of cars and trucks tried to leave the freeway at Williamstown Road where police had formed a blockade. 

In chaotic scenes, a person riding a motorcycle was seen tearing up and down the highway on the wrong side of the road on one wheel before making an exit down a ramp.

The mood in the crowd was dark following news of the construction worker’s death at the Crema Construction site that morning.

Crema Constructions declined to comment about the man’s death.

Worksafe is investigating the death while police will prepare a report for the Coroner.

Tensions boiled over about 11am with protesters lighting flares and a bottle being tossed towards police.  

The angry crowd also turned their attention to television reporters, with a group of protesters physically attacking veteran journalist Paul Dowsley.

The Seven News reporter, who was also doused with urine during the chaos, was broadcasting from the scene when he was attacked by one demonstrator who grabbed him around the throat. 

Dowsley continued to report as protesters threatened him, saying: ‘There are people with a real message about the vaccine and their health concerns and there are some that seem hellbent on causing trouble.’

‘I’m not a fighter, I’ve never thrown a punch in my life.. [a protester] singled me out without knowing anything about me.  

‘My colleague and I are now covered in what I understand to be urine.’

Daily Mail Australia also saw a large crowd of tradesmen from the protest buying bags of alcohol at a nearby Woolworths.

The huge demo comes as Victoria recorded 603 new cases on Tuesday, the highest daily tally in the current outbreak and since August 2020, bringing the number of active cases to 6,000. 

At about 1pm, the protesters started moving back towards the CFMEU headquarters, where demonstrators were seen throwing glass bottles and flares at police officers. 

The Melbourne protesters are using the encrypted platform Telegram to communicate, calling for an end to lockdowns, mandatory mask orders and the immediate reopening of the construction industry.

Three of the demands called for Victoria’s leading figureheads in its pandemic response to stand down – Andrews, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton. 

Protesters also called for a royal commission into the government’s response to the pandemic and for officers they claim ‘assaulted peaceful protesters’ to be charged. 

Their final demand was for the ‘mass distribution of invermectin, Vitamins C, D and Zinc’ as alternative treatments for Covid-19.

Invermectin, a horse tranquiliser used to treat parasitic infections, has not been proven to be effective in treating the virus. 

CFMEU boss John Setka earlier blasted ‘fake tradies’ and ‘man-baby Nazis’ who sparked Monday’s violent scenes outside union headquarters – prompting Andrews to shut down the entire industry for two weeks. 

The state’s health minister Martin Foley said hundreds of cases have been recorded across 186 construction sites. 

The majority of Australia’s coronavirus cases have been linked to metropolitan Melbourne, while 49 infections are from those living in regional Victoria. 

Hundreds of workers in hi-vis vests gathered outside the union’s head office in Melbourne on Monday to protest against mandatory Covid-19 vaccine requirements, which come into effect for the construction industry later this week. 

The protest turned violent as demonstrators clashed with Mr Setka and other union officials, hurling abuse and projectiles and smashing glass windows. 

Mr Setka is furious 300,000 construction staff state-wide have lost work because of the actions of ‘fake tradies’ at the protest, describing them as ‘scum of the earth, drunken and un-Australian morons’.  

‘There were a few of anti-vaxxer activists there who are not union members or are from our industry, they’re the ones you see at all the protests,’ Mr Setka told the Today show on Tuesday.

‘It just got out of control. Then they were consuming a whole heap of alcohol. Thanks to these morons, 300,000 Victorians are sitting at home for at least the next couple of weeks, could drag out even longer.’

Mr Setka described how he went out to address the hostile crowd but was eventually forced to retreat back inside as protestors turned on him.

‘We went out there to  see what it was all about,’ he said.

‘There was a sprinkling of construction workers there of our members and the rest were just people, I wouldn’t even know who they are. 

‘You couldn’t even talk. We tried to keep it all calm, and it just got out of chrome. People started throwing bottles. Some of them were fighting amongst themselves. 

‘You know, once they started throwing the bottles, that was it we just said this is too dangerous, let’s move back in. It just got out of control from there.’

Mr Setka said he was blindsided by the state government’s snap decision to shut down the construction industry statewide. 

‘It wasn’t like there was full-on consultation us with,’ he said.

‘I have never spoken to Daniel Andrews to be honest. I have never met him and never spoken to him. I’ve had no discussions with Daniel Andrews ever.’

He doesn’t believe the shutdown was payback for recent criticism of the state government’s public health orders and agreed it had no other choice but to shut down the industry. 

‘I don’t think they had much of an alternative but to do what they’ve done,’ Mr Setka said.

‘It’s unfortunate, because families rely on a pay packet every week, and the problem with it is, I think it’s going to go longer than two weeks.

‘They can thank all the drunk morons yesterday. This lays squarely on their shoulders.’

Ex-unionist and federal MP Bill Shorten also slammed the ‘fake tradies’ and ‘man-baby Nazis’ earlier in the program.

‘Some of those people in the crowd were construction workers, but others, I’m reliably informed, were fake tradies,’ he said.

‘They’d been down to the Reject Shop and got themselves a $2 hi-viz hoodie so they could pretend they were construction.’   

On Monday night, the state government shut down the industry for two weeks in metropolitan Melbourne, City of Ballarat, City of Greater Geelong, Surf Coast Shire and Mitchell Shire.

All worksites will need to demonstrate compliance with health directions prior to reopening.

This includes a requirement for workers to show evidence of having had at least one dose of a vaccine before they return to work on October 5.

Mr Shorten defended the CFMEU saying the construction union was being responsible and encouraging people to get vaccinated.

‘There is a network of hard-right man-baby Nazis, just people who just want to cause trouble – these man-babies, they want to complain about vaccinations,’ he said.

‘They deserve to get the full force of everything that’s coming their way.’ 

The Victorian branch of CFMEU said it had always supported freedom of choice regarding vaccination.

‘We are not going to be intimidated by outside extremists attempting to intimidate the union, by spreading misinformation and lies about the union’s position,’ it said in a statement on Monday.

The Victorian government said the shutdown was required to cut down movement, reduce Covid-19 transmission and give the industry time to adapt to new requirements.

An audit of about 200 construction sites last week found 73 per cent were failing to comply with health directions. 

‘We put the industry on notice just a week ago, we have seen appalling behaviour on-site and on our streets, and now we’re acting decisively and without hesitation,’ Victorian treasurer Tim Pallas said. 

An amnesty will be in place on Tuesday so a limited number of workers can attend construction sites to shut them down safely.

All sites will need to demonstrate compliance with the chief health officer’s directions prior to reopening, including evidence workers have had one dose of a vaccine before they return to work on October 5.

The Property Council of Australia said the shutdown would cost the economy $1.1 billion a week.

‘The majority of construction sites and construction workers are doing everything required of them to meet the highest standards of COVID safety and have done so since the pandemic started,’ executive director Danni Hunter said in a statement.

‘Closing the industry will prevent them going to work and getting paid and it will stall projects causing immensely costly delays, putting projects and Victorian jobs at risk.’

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