A man's body has been found at a worksite in Melbourne. fuelling the anger of protesters who have descended on the city again.
A man's body has been found at a worksite in West Melbourne, hours after the Victorian government announced a two-week shutdown of the city's construction sector.
News of the tragedy broke as protesters descended on the Melbourne headquarters of the Construction, Forestry Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) for the second day in a row, meeting a heavy police presence following yesterday's violent scenes.
The Herald Sun reports the man's body was found at a site on Spencer Street at about 7am this morning. It is understood he took his own life.
"Sadly the man, who is yet to be formally identified, died at the scene," a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.
One message circulating among construction workers in the wake of the news read: "Breaks my f***in heart. His blood is on Dan Andrews' hands. May you rest in peace and your mind be at ease brother. Today we protest in your name and in your honour."
Melbourne's $22 billion construction industry was temporarily shut down following Monday's chaotic protest against mandatory vaccinations for construction workers, which descended into a brawl.
Demonstrators pelted projectiles at the CFMEU building, damaging it, and riot police were deployed, firing rubber bullets into the crowd.
CFMEU boss John Setka, who tried to calm the mob before retreating inside when violence erupted, said he believed the protest had been "hijacked" by "extreme organisations" opposed to Covid restrictions.
Despite the violence, another demonstration was organised for this morning. A poster distributed on social media and via the app Telegram called for protesters to gather at the CFMEU headquarters at 10am. It was headlined: "Victorian Workers Rally For Freedom."
"Rally will continue until demands are met. Bring your friends and family in support. Wear work gear. Bring food and drinks," it instructed.
One post on Telegram outlined a list of "demands" for the Melbourne protest, including the immediate removal of emergency state powers, an immediate end to lockdown, an end to mask and vaccine mandates, the resignation of Premier Daniel Andrews and chief health officer Brett Sutton, a royal commission into the government's pandemic response, charges against police for "assaulting peaceful protesters", a resumption of all construction sites and "mass distribution of ivermectin, vitamin C, vitamin D an zinc".
Shortly after 10am, a group of hundreds had gathered on Elizabeth St, facing off with a police line. Some members of the crowd could be heard chanting "f*** the jab" and "freedom".
Some of the police were equipped with gas masks and riot shields.
The protesters commenced a swift march through the streets of Melbourne, towards the CBD and and the state parliament, as the crowd swelled to thousands of people.
There was an ugly incident at one point as some protesters accosted Channel 7 reporter Paul Dowsley.
"We were standing on a seat trying to get an elevated view as the protest group walked past. A few in that crowd had it in for mainstream media," Dowsley recounted on air a short time after the attack.
"A man came from the side, grabbed me around the neck, and others then joined in a scuffle. I'm not sure whether they were maybe trying to protect me, or join in and maybe have a go at me. I'm not sure.
"But the outcome of that was us both, my cameraman colleague here and me, now being covered in what I believe is urine. I believe this has been thrown in my mouth, it's all over me.
"A couple of protesters, I will note, in the minutes after stopped and came back to me, and said, 'I hope you're OK, that is not what we're about, it should not have happend.' They were absolutely appalled by it. As am I."
Speaking to Channel 9's Today show this morning, Mr Setka doubled down on his description of yesterday's protesters as "drunken, fascist, un-Australian morons".
"There were a few anti-vaxxer activists there who are not union members or are from our industry. They're the ones you see at all the protests," he said.
"It just got out of control. Then they were consuming a whole heap of alcohol. Thanks to these morons, 300,000 Victorians are sitting at home for at least the next couple of weeks. It could drag out even longer."
Mr Setka said the government hadn't consulted him about its shutdown of the sector but he didn't think "they had much of an alternative but to do what they've done".
"It's unfortunate, because families rely on a pay packet every week. And the problem with it is, I think it's going to be longer than two weeks," he said.
"They can thank all the drunk morons yesterday. This lays squarely on their shoulders."
Federal Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten, the former opposition leader, went even further in his condemnation of the protesters.
"There is a network of hard-right man-baby Nazis, just people who want to cause trouble. These man-babies, they want to complain about vaccinations," Mr Shorten said earlier in the program.
"They deserve to get the full force of everything that's coming their way."
The Victorian government announced its decision to suspend the construction industry late on Monday night, citing the high transmission of Covid on construction sites and concerns about workers failing to comply with restrictions. Health officials estimate building sites are the source of more than 10 per cent of all cases in Victoria.
Only critical infrastructure, such as hospitals, will be exempt from the shutdown. As a result, about 300,000 people will be out of work, and the sector will lose almost half a billion dollars per day.
"Recently, we have seen multiple outbreaks linked to construction. Construction workers are a mobile workforce who may work across multiple sites and travel longer distances to work than other permitted workers. Concerns have also been raised, and remain, about the sector's compliance with public health measures and directions," Industrial Relations Minister Tim Pallas said.
"Also concerning is the transmission risk and geographic spread of construction cases, which led to a number of important health measures including preventing workers from crossing the regional/metropolitan border. But more action is required to stop the spread.
"The immediate shutdown action is being taken to reduce movement, minimise transmission and allow for the entire industry to appropriately adapt to the chief health officer's directions, including increasing vaccination rates."
Construction projects will be closed in metropolitan Melbourne, Ballarat, Greater Geelong, Surf Coast Shire and Mitchell Shire, with a "strictly limited" exemption for workers who are responding to an emergency or performing "urgent and essential work to protect health and safety".
There's also a brief amnesty to allow a limited number of workers to shut down the sites safely.
All construction sites will be required to demonstrate their compliance with the chief health officer's instructions before they can reopen, including the requirement for workers to show evidence to their employer of having had at least one dose of the Covid vaccine.
"Before workers return to site, they must comply with this requirement," said Mr Pallas.
Today Health Minister Martin Foley defended the government's decision.
"We've talked about Covid outbreaks on construction sites, one particular site so far having more than 150 direct cases linked to it," he said.
"We have also reflected on poor levels of compliance with health directions and poor levels of application of CovidSafe principles and practices in multiple workplaces.
"The public health team was left with no choice but to hit the pause button."
Jobs Minister Martin Pakula acknowledged it was a "sad day" for construction workers.
"A lot of people have been doing the right thing. Unfortunately, because of abhorrent behaviour and what we've seen, there is a need for the government to intervene and take strong action," he said.
"What we're seeing is the construction industry effectively amplifying and spreading the virus into communities.
"We can't simply have an industry as one of the focal points, one of the greater areas of activity of the virus, not adhering to the safe requirements for work that we put in place."
Mr Andrews slammed yesterday's protest, telling rallygoers their tactics would "not work".
The Victorian opposition has called on the government to reverse its "panicked decision" to shut down the construction sector.
"The Liberal Nationals condemn the violent protests, but the actions of a few should not be used as an excuse to shut down an entire industry, putting tens of thousands of people out of work," said industry spokeswoman Bridget Vallence.
And Sally McManus, secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, condemned "extreme right-wing activists" for stoking the "reprehensible" violence.
"The ACTU condemns the violent attack on the CFMEU office orchestrated by violent right-wing extremists and anti-vaccination activists," she said.
During the rally, workers were heard chanting in opposition the Covid vaccines. Others referred to the pandemic as a "conspiracy".
Mr Setka copped abuse from the crowd as he tried to calm the situation.
"People are allowed to express their opinions and you've got to take it on the chin sometimes. People get emotional, I understand that," he said afterwards.
"But when you go out of your way to address people and they just talk over you, yelling and screaming, and throw projectiles and injure people and smash property, it's just absolutely unacceptable.
"It wasn't out decision (to mandate vaccinations). We didn't do it. We didn't bring this pandemic in. All we've tried to do is keep everyone working."
Victoria recorded its highest number of infections in the current outbreak on Monday, with 567 new locally acquired cases and one death.
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2021-09-21 02:13:39Z
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