Protestors from Extinction Rebellion—an international environmental movement—this morning attempted to block a major thoroughfare in Melbourne’s CBD.
At approximately 7:30 a.m., 15 of the group’s demonstrators assembled in single file at a crossing on the Montague Street off-ramp just off of the West Gate Freeway. They proceeded to start chanting after unveiling large banners with slogans like “Climate code red for humanity” and “we need disruption to end the destruction.”
Local police acted swiftly, appearing on the scene within the hour to clear the way.
“Police were called to reports of a number of people on the Montague Street off-ramp on the West Gate Freeway in South Wharf about 7.50am this morning. Officers arrived and spoke to the protestors and gave them a direction to leave the roadway. Nine protestors failed to comply and were removed by police. As a result the nine people removed have received penalty notices for obstructing a roadway. The incident lasted approximately 20 minutes,” a Victoria Police spokesperson told The Epoch Times by email.
Sustained Protests
Today is the third consecutive day that Extinction Rebellion protestors have conducted demonstrations in Melbourne’s CBD.On Thursday, the movement’s members took to the streets in both morning and evening peak hours. At 7 a.m., they walked down King Street, then through some of the city’s major roadways, before arriving at Flagstaff Gardens. In the evening, they marched from the State Library to Melbourne’s Central Station.
The protestors’ displays supposedly foreshadow the events set to take place on the weekend, with the group planning to stage a demonstration of 200+ protestors on Saturday.
According to Extinction Rebellion Australia’s website, the “Slow March For Climate” will take place between 1-4 p.m. as those partaking walk from Treasury Gardens, just east of the CBD, to Flinders Street Station in the city centre.
To conclude the march, organisers are planning a show of “Mass Civil Disobedience for Climate,” where protestors will sit down in the middle of the road. They are hoping 300 people will partake.
The movement’s protests come in conjunction with the COP 28 conference currently being held in Dubai, which the members believe to be impotent in curtailing carbon emissions and expediting the global transition to renewable energy.
The series of protests in Melbourne are taking place just 3 months after the group’s major obstructions of traffic in Adelaide’s CBD.
In late September, one of the protestors involved was arrested for abseiling off of a bridge in the city centre. The protestor later pleaded guilty to obstruction of a public space. The demonstration took place outside of a gas and oil conference held by the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA.)
Spokesperson for the Victorian Branch of Extinction Rebellion, Brad Homewood, has expressed his apologies to those impeded by the group’s protests but believe they are a necessary measure.
“We genuinely apologise to the public, we don’t like doing this, we wish it didn’t have to come to this,” Mr. Homewood said, reported nine news.
“Writing letters, signing petitions..they can ignore that. They can’t ignore this.”
