Skip to main content
Donate to the 95 years appeal
Australian police launch brutal crackdown on thousands of anti-war protesters
A protester gestures to Victorian police at an anti-war protest outside a military arms convention in downtown Melbourne, Australia, September 11, 2024

AUSTRALIAN police launched a brutal crackdown today on thousands of anti-war protesters outside a weapons convention in Melbourne.

About 1,800 police were deployed and used pepper spray, flash distraction devices and rubber bullets on protesters outside the huge biennial Land Forces International Land Defence Exposition.

At least 39 people were arrested for offences such as assault, arson and obstruction after exchanges during which the police accused the protesters of hurling bottles, rocks and horse manure. 

Police also said that its officers were sprayed with liquid irritants. They said at least 24 officers required medical treatment.

“Victoria Police is appalled at the behaviour of some of the protesters,” the statement said, referring to the Victoria state force.

Protesters were also accused of throwing rocks, horse manure and tomatoes at police horses and officers with shields and wearing riot gear. 

A police officer on horseback struck a protester with a riding crop and a line of police were seen forcing protesters away from the convention centre.

But Students for Palestine national co-convener Jasmine Duff blamed police for the violence during the protest.

“They used serious weapons on peace activists that should be banned for use on demonstrators, including pepper spray, which is classified as a chemical weapon,” Ms Duff said in a statement.

“They hit us with batons, including hitting one man so hard he had to go to hospital and they shot us with rubber bullets,” she said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called on protesters to show respect for police.

“People have a right to protest peacefully, but you don’t say you’re opposed to defence equipment by throwing things at police,” Mr Albanese told Seven Network television. 

“They’ve got a job to do and our police officers should be respected at all times.”

Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said that it was the state police force’s biggest planned deployment since Melbourne hosted the World Economic Forum in 2000 and backed his officers’ use of force. He accused the protesters of planning for conflict.

“They come here to protest. They are anti-war so presumably anti-violence,” Chief Patton told reporters. 

He said: “The only way I can describe them is a bunch of hypocrites.”

The organiser of the convention, AMDA Foundation, said it would not comment on protester activity.

The gathering brings together leading arms industry figures from Australia, the United States, Asia and Europe. In 2022, the convention was held in the city of Brisbane.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Sudanese displaced families take shelter in a school after being evacuated by the Sudanese army from areas once controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Omdurman, Sudan, March 23, 2025
Northeast Africa / 11 July 2025
11 July 2025
OPPORTUNITY BECKONS: BRICS member states family photograph - In the shadow of the Sugarloaf Mountain - during the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on July 6 2025. (L to R) Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov, Crown Prince of UAE Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan, President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto, President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, Premier of China Li Qiang, Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed, P
The Future / 11 July 2025
11 July 2025

ROGER McKENZIE expounds on the motivation that drove him to write a book that anticipates a dawn of a new, fully liberated Africa – the land of his ancestors

STRICKEN: Food distribution by the World Food Programme for internally displaced persons at the Wad Almajzoub farm camp Gezira state, Sudan
Features / 10 July 2025
10 July 2025

While much attention is focused on Israel’s aggression, we cannot ignore the conflicts in Africa, stoked by Western imperialism and greed for natural resources, if we’re to understand the full picture of geopolitics today, argues ROGER McKENZIE

World leaders partake in the 17th annual BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, July 6, 2025
BRICS / 7 July 2025
7 July 2025