Pauline Hanson speaks at anti-immigration rally in Melbourne’s CBD
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson addressed the crowd at an anti-immigration rally in Melbourne’s CBD, speaking at Flagstaff Gardens during the Put Australia First protest on Sunday.
A small group of counter-protesters interrupted Hanson’s speech with a loudspeaker, but they were roughly forcibly removed by other protesters and police.
Pauline Hanson at an anti-immigration rally in the Melbourne CBD on Sunday.Credit: bridie smith
Hanson continued his speech by telling the crowd not to fight.
Hanson’s speech came days after she sparked fresh controversy by wearing a burqa in the Senate last Monday. He was subsequently suspended from the Senate for seven days.
On Sunday, counter-protesters had gathered at the State Library on Swanston Street to protest an earlier anti-immigration rally.
Put Australia First demonstrators gathered on Flinders Street before marching to Flagstaff Gardens.
The two rallies coincide with Victoria Police being given greater powers to conduct on-site searches for banned weapons.
The new search powers were tested outside the State Library by counterprotesters during the rally. Six police officers stopped a man in a gray hoodie to search his bag. The crowd gathered around chanted slogans: “No justice, no prohibition, no racist police.”
