Police have arrested lockdown protesters after crowds clashed with dozens of officers at Sydney’s Victoria Park as demonstrations converged on major cities across Australia on Saturday.
Thousands of people gathered at the park, opposite Broadway shopping centre, after marching into Sydney’s CBD on Saturday to protest widespread lockdowns in NSW.
The Sydney protesters were met with a heavy police presence, including lines of mounted officers, outside Broadway shopping centre before marching north towards Town Hall, where some chanted “my body, my choice†while other climbed statues and the entrances to train stations.
The protesters gathered in the Camperdown park after marching through the streets of Chippendale.
“At the present time we’ve got cases going through the roof, and we have people thinking that it’s OK to get out there and possibly be close to each other at a demonstration,†he said on Saturday morning.
Megan Gorrey is the Urban Affairs reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald
Georgina Mitchell is a court reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald