Eggs and water balloons thrown as protesters face off at Women Will Speak rally in Melbourne
Projectiles were thrown at speakers and one person arrested as protesters and counter-protesters faced off outside Parliament House in Melbourne on Saturday.
About 20 people initially attended the planned #WomenWILLSpeak rally that commenced at about 11am, Victoria police said in a statement.
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They were outnumbered by 150 protesters from another group, who were “throwing eggs and water balloons at the speakers involved,” the statement said.
A 36-year-old Brunswick woman was arrested at the scene for allegedly assaulting police and was released pending further inquiries, police said.
No injuries were reported.
“Victoria Police is disappointed with the actions of the group and while it supports peaceful protests it has a zero-tolerance policy for violence or disruptive acts which impact the broader community,” police said.
A live stream of the rally posted on YouTube by Women’s Action Group showed a barricade of police officers in yellow vests separating the #WomenWILLSpeak event from a large crowd gathered with signs.
In the same live stream, some of the protesters in the Women Action’s Group camp can be seen holding signs reading “trans women are men”, “inquiry into gender medicine now” and “no male cheats in women’s sports”.
On Wednesday, a Facebook page titled Trans Queer Solidarity posted about the rally, saying: “We need to out-number them and limit their recruitment like we have before.”
“Their campaigns are harmful, including targeting trans youth and trans women who are criminalised by the state,” a post on the page read.
