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The Convoy to Canberra protest marches have now converged in the Parliamentary Triangle area, having made their way from smaller marches around the City Centre and Turner this morning. ACT Policing confirmed the protesters were in the process of joining up after briefly blocking southbound traffic on Commonwealth Bridge. The number of protesters are now in the hundreds as police monitor the ongoing situation. This is third weekend of protest activity from people opposed to COVID-19 vaccination mandates has seen the crowds dwindle from a peak of between 10,000 and 15,000 people. Making their way towards Parliament House, the first group of marchers have been peaceful as they moved toward the penned area set aside for the protesters on the parliament's lawns. Police positioned themselves between the protesters and Parliament House, which is largely empty of people after politicians returned home on Friday following the second last sitting period before the federal election. Protesters reported coming to Canberra from Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia to end mandatory vaccination and to raise awareness for a motley collection of conspiracies. Three separate rallies had been planned for Saturday, including a gathering at Glebe Park. "Don't be too disheartened by the size of the crowd ... we are very spread out today," said one of the protest group live-streamers while filming a small gathering at Glebe Park. One protester on stage at the Parliament House effort told those gathered, "I've got no job to go back to, no home to go back to." MORE COVID-19 NEWS: Last week, in the days after last Saturday's protest ACT Police arrested a handful of anti-vaccination protesters in an operation to evict a group of demonstrators from Exhibition Park. Up to 10,000 people had been cleared from the camping grounds on the site. ACT police said despite the arrests Operation Hawker had been peaceful. Several hundred who were evicted from Exhibition Park remained within the region at locations including Bungendore showground and Caloola Farm near Tharwa. Parliament's final Question Time for the sitting period ended with a question from Independent MP Craig Kelly claiming police had used "sonic weapons" on protesters at the previous weekend's rally. While Long Range Acoustic Devices or LRADs have been used to transmit messages and alarms, there has been no evidence of any unorthodox tactics or use of LRADs as weapons against the protesters. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
Anti-vaccination mandate protest efforts on Saturday, February 19
The Convoy to Canberra protest marches have now converged in the Parliamentary Triangle area, having made their way from smaller marches around the City Centre and Turner this morning.
ACT Policing confirmed the protesters were in the process of joining up after briefly blocking southbound traffic on Commonwealth Bridge. The number of protesters are now in the hundreds as police monitor the ongoing situation.
Making their way towards Parliament House, the first group of marchers have been peaceful as they moved toward the penned area set aside for the protesters on the parliament's lawns.
Protesters reported coming to Canberra from Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia to end mandatory vaccination and to raise awareness for a motley collection of conspiracies.
Three separate rallies had been planned for Saturday, including a gathering at Glebe Park.
"Don't be too disheartened by the size of the crowd ... we are very spread out today," said one of the protest group live-streamers while filming a small gathering at Glebe Park.
One protester on stage at the Parliament House effort told those gathered, "I've got no job to go back to, no home to go back to."
Up to 10,000 people had been cleared from the camping grounds on the site. ACT police said despite the arrests Operation Hawker had been peaceful.
Several hundred who were evicted from Exhibition Park remained within the region at locations including Bungendore showground and Caloola Farm near Tharwa.
While Long Range Acoustic Devices or LRADs have been used to transmit messages and alarms, there has been no evidence of any unorthodox tactics or use of LRADs as weapons against the protesters.
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Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
