Dozens of businesses have closed as protesters descended on the regional Victorian city of Ballarat in another day of protests against the state’s vaccine rules and pandemic legislation.
Key points:
- It is the second day in a row of large demonstrations against Victoria’s pandemic legislation and vaccine mandates
- The Mayor of Ballarat says about half of CBD businesses closed in anticipation of the rally
- Victoria recorded 980 new COVID-19 infections and a further seven deaths
Police said about 1,000 people gathered in the Ballarat CBD on Sunday, but there were no arrests made.
The gold rush city was the historical home of the Eureka stockade. The Eureka flag, a symbol of a miner’s rebellion from the 1800s, has been used as a symbol of defiance by anti-lockdown protesters.
A convoy of cars left Melbourne on Sunday morning before demonstrators met in the Ballarat CBD.
Yesterday, an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people gathered in Melbourne’s CBD to protest the passing of the new pandemic legislation.
The controversial law, which was passed by parliament last week, gives Victoria’s premier and health minister the power to declare a pandemic and enforce restrictions.
The state opposition and some backbenchers opposed the bill and while many legal experts backed the safeguards introduced to the bill after negotiations, some have remained concerned about the reach of its powers.
Ballarat Mayor Daniel Moloney said while the city was aware of its historical significance and was used to protests, “the nature of this one has had a lot of businesses worried about whether to open or close”.
He said about half of businesses in the CBD had closed for at least part of the day in anticipation of the demonstrations.
Protests opposing lockdowns, vaccination and the pandemic bill have been running for months now.
Those organised in recent weeks have been largely peaceful, and no arrests were made on Saturday, but on rare occasions, the rallies have erupted into violence.
Josh Morelli, general manager at Aunty Jacks restaurant right across the road from the centre, said the planned protests had been “extremely” disruptive to his business.
“We were expecting to have 60 people in for dinner this evening from the Grampians health department, they’ve obviously cancelled,” he said.
“It’s very disappointing for us.”
One speaker at the protests criticised the council for postponing events initially scheduled for the weekend, saying businesses would miss out on the tourism dollars of thousands of people.
A hundreds-strong crowd first met outside the Ballarat Civic Hall and listened to speeches as the crowd grew.
They then marched through the CBD and to the Ballarat skate park, where there were more speeches and loud music.
The crowd carried a large number of Eureka flags, upside-down Australian flags, placards and the flags of other nations.
The common refrain of “sack Dan Andrews” was chanted, along with “Eureka, united, we’ll never be defeated”.
To access most non-essential services and venues, people over the age of 12 need to show proof of vaccination or an exemption.
More than 91.5 per cent of Victorians in that cohort have had at least two doses of a safe and effective vaccine, a number that has allowed the state to open up after lockdowns.
The vast majority of COVID-19 cases receiving intensive care in hospitals are not fully vaccinated.
Musician Ivan Beecroft said he had been unable to work since venues required all staff and patrons to be double-dosed.
“This issue’s about human rights, it’s about losing our rights, you know gradually. Because over the space of two years it’s just been chipped away and they don’t seem in a hurry to give them back,” he said.
A woman who identified herself as Marie said she travelled from Melbourne because she was worried freedoms were being lost.
“My husband lost his job, and he’s been a very dedicated worker for 35 years and because of the mandates he lost his job … Basically our freedoms have been taken away and the pro-choice in life to choose whatever’s best for our body,” she said.
Several hundred police were in attendance.
United Australia Party federal MP Craig Kelly once again addressed the group, describing vaccine mandates as “unethical and un-Australian”.
Independent state MP Catherine Cumming, another frequent attendee of the protests, led a chant of “save the children”.
The exact makeup of the protests and their organisational structure is hard to pin down.
Many protesters say they are vaccinated but oppose mandates, while others are concerned about powers afforded to governments under the new pandemic legislation.
A small but prominent contingent has links to far-right nationalism.
A car covered in slogans relating to the unfounded conspiracy QAnon, which started in the US, was part of the convoy from Melbourne to Ballarat.
Victoria records 980 new COVID cases
Victoria has recorded 980 new local COVID-19 cases and seven deaths on Saturday.
It is the first time in five days that the state’s daily COVID-19 figures have dipped below 1,000.
The new cases were detected from 65,449 test results.
Health authorities have linked 39 infections to anti-government demonstrations in late November, a number which is unchanged since Saturday.
Three protesters who contracted COVID-19 have been admitted to hospital, with one in intensive care.
There are 299 people in hospital with COVID-19 in total, of whom 40 are in intensive care and 16 are on a ventilator.
Victoria’s Health Department said a further 43 people were in intensive care but their COVID-19 infections were no longer considered active.
It came as the federal government announced it expects the first shipment of the Pfizer children’s vaccine to arrive in Australia in early January, with the rollout to start from January 10.
The TGA’s provisional approval has found the vaccine is safe and effective.
The national expert vaccine group, ATAGI, next needs to recommend the use of Pfizer’s child vaccine for 5-11-year-olds.
Premier Daniel Andrews welcomed the news, and said his state was standing by to help deliver the vaccines, suggesting a schools-based program “makes a lot of sense”.
“We know the TGA and then ATAGI do their work diligently, they take their time,” Mr Andrews said.
“We’re just now waiting for the federal government to give us a sense of what role they want us to play, what role they want, for instance, school communities to play in order to roll out that paediatric vax.”
A significant portion of the confirmed cases in the state’s current Delta outbreak have been linked back to schools, where large groups of — often unvaccinated — children are able to mingle.
The vaccine rollout is officially still the domain of the federal government, but Mr Andrews suggested it was “likely we’d get the job done faster” if state schools became involved.
Once approved, the vaccine will be available to approximately 2.3 million Australian children in that age group.
New funding for school camps
The Victorian government has announced a multi-million-dollar new program to get Victorian school students “back out and about” after the state’s multiple lockdowns.
Its $112.9 million initiative will provide more camps and outdoor activities to children during the school holidays and 2022 school term, targeting schools that have been most affected by closures because of COVID-19 outbreaks.
“Our kids have missed out on a lot,” Mr Andrews said.
“This camps and experience package is so they can catch up on all those things they have missed: socialisation, resilience, being outdoors, having great fun with their friends.”
The funding will also provide more than 690,000 swimming and water safety lessons for students.
It comes after life saving groups raised fears that the closure of swimming lessons for children during the pandemic might put young people at risk in the water over summer.
There are now 15,433 active cases of the virus in Victoria, and 553 people have died during the state’s current outbreak, after the health department announced one death announced yesterday was a duplication.
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