Prime Minister Scott Morrison has demanded an end to further Black Lives Matter protests, saying action planned for coming days is "completely unacceptable" and demonstrators at future events should be charged.
Key points:
- Scott Morrison says people who breach public health orders should be charged
- Further protests are being planned for coming days
- Mr Morrison says calls to remove statues of white historical figures point towards a "left-wing agenda"
Mr Morrison has previously opposed Australians' attendance at protests, telling them not to go on health grounds.
But the Prime Minister ramped up his rhetoric on mass protests against Indigenous incarceration rates and deaths in custody, accusing protesters of setting back efforts to lift coronavirus restrictions.
"The double standards that [protesters] allowed themselves to perpetrate by turning up has offended, rightly I think, Australians right across the country.
"The way that it was done and the suggestion that they might do it again risks public support for even the issue they raise."
Mr Morrison said protesters who attended rallies in breach of public health orders should face charges.
"I think the issues last weekend were very difficult, but I think people carrying it on now, it's not about that."
His comments came hours before authorities in Victoria announced one person who attended a rally in Melbourne had tested positive for COVID-19.
Doctors said the man may have been infectious at the protest, but was unlikely to have contracted the virus there.
A rally is being planned for tomorrow evening in Sydney, to protest against the number of black deaths in custody in Australia.
The protest is being opposed by police on public health grounds, as is another planned protest on the rights of refugees.
Mr Morrison said while the issue of Indigenous incarceration was one worthy of protest, it was not appropriate for advocates to gather en masse during a pandemic.
"The rally last weekend is the only legitimate real blocker to [easing restrictions further] at the moment, because we actually don't know whether those rallies on the weekend may have caused outbreaks," he said.
"It just puts a massive spanner in the works."
Mr Morrison's calls were echoed by crossbench senator Jacqui Lambie, who said the risk of a second wave of coronavirus was too great.
"I just find this really, really reckless," she said.
"If Black Lives Matter so much then why are you putting them at risk?"
Morrison links removal of slavers' statues to 'left-wing agenda'
Yesterday, four Labor MPs were sent home from Parliament and told to get tested for COVID-19 "as an abundance of caution", after attending rallies over the weekend.
Two have since returned negative tests.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese, whose multicultural affairs spokesman is calling for a national action plan to combat racism, backed the Prime Minister's calls for protesters to stay home.
"Listen to the health advice, simple as that," he said.
After protesters overseas tore down statues of historical figures responsible for atrocities such as slavery and genocide, Mr Morrison accused some protests of being hijacked by "left-wing agendas".
"They start on a fair point when they're raising issues about people's treatment in custody or things like that, but now it's been taken over by much more politically driven left-wing agendas," he said.
"We've got to be honest about our history, we've also got to respect our history as well."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA2LTExL2JsYWNrLWxpdmVzLW1hdHRlci1wcm90ZXN0cy1tb3JyaXNvbi1jYWxscy1mb3ItY2hhcmdlcy8xMjM0Mjc2MtIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjM0Mjc2Mg?oc=5
2020-06-11 00:49:48Z
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