Vegan protesters halt traffic, block abattoirs in national protests
Police remove an animal rights protester from a Melbourne intersection. Photo: AAP
Animal rights protesters have shut down a busy Melbourne intersection at peak hour and held sit-ins and blocked gates at abattoirs across the country in a day of militant action.
Police forcibly removed vegan protesters who blocked the intersection of Flinders and Swanston streets in central Melbourne for two hours on Monday morning.
Three teenagers were among the 38 people arrested. The last of the activists was removed by 10.10am, amid reports of a follow-up protest at the nearby Melbourne Aquarium.
The CBD protesters held signs reading “This is a peaceful protest” and “SOS animal emergency climate emergency”.
Vans draped in black and emblazoned with the web address of a vegan documentary were parked in the middle of the busy intersection.
Animal rights activists have blocked off Flinders St. Say they’ll stay here as long as possible. Organiser has told me that it’s time for people to go vegan. @abcmelbourne pic.twitter.com/zU57gpkPYt
— Dominic Cansdale (@DominicCansdale) April 7, 2019
There were other similar protests across Australia on Monday morning,. They included a march in Sydney, where a dozen people dressed in black walked from Hyde Park to Martin Place, escorted by police.
Protest spokesperson Isy Veira said they are calling on state and federal agriculture ministers to listen to several demands, including adding an animal cruelty documentary to the school curriculum for kids over 15.
Despite the small numbers at the protest, Ms Veira was happy with the turnout.
“We’ve got riot police following us around so we’re obviously shaking things up a bit,” she said.
About 20 animal rights campaigners chained themselves to equipment at a Queensland abattoir at Yangan, near Warwick. Up to 200 protesters remained outside the Warwick facility, rallying against what they said was the barbaric slaughter of sheep and pigs.
Brad King, from the activist group Farm Animal Rescue, was among those at the Yangan protest and said animals slaughtered at the site had endured terrifying deaths.
But the owner of the abattoir, Greg Carey said on Monday, he wanted the activists charged after they stormed his business, chained themselves to fixtures on the floor of the killing room and stole three sheep.
“They are trying to bring our primary agricultural industry to its knees using stand over tactics … this is un-Australian and harms the livelihood of many,” he told the ABC.
Animal rights protesters also marched in Sydney on Monday morning. Photo: AAP
Elsewhere, activists chained themselves to a truck at Pakenham, south-east of Melbourne, and blocked the gates of an abattoir at Bacchus Marshh, to Melbourne’s west.
There was another protest at a meatworks in Corio, north of Geelong, while nine people were arrested at an abattoir in Goulburn, NSW, after chaining themselves to a conveyer.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison condemned the protests.
“It is shameful, it is un-Australian,” he told Sydney’s 2GB radio.
“This is just another form of activism that I think runs against the national interest, and the national interest is being able to farm their own land.”
The last of the protesters are being removed from Flinders Street. @TheNewDailyAu https://t.co/bcAUgijBcW
— Matt Johnson (@matte_johnson) April 8, 2019
But Chris Delforce, director of the Dominion documentary that prompted the protest action, told The New Daily it was un-Australian to support an industry that promotes animal cruelty.
“I think it’s un-Australian to operate a business that depends on secrecy and deception, especially when most Australians are opposed to animal cruelty,” Mr Delforce said from the Melbourne rally.
“These actions will continue to occur so long as these industries continue to be allowed to operate in secrecy and so long as there’s a complete lack of transparency.”
In Melbourne, trams were held up or diverted during the Flinders Street protest. Commuters were urged to consider city loop trains as an alternative.
“It’s causing quite the headache for people,” Public Transport Victoria’s Georgia Main told 3AW radio.
Victoria Police said it was monitoring the protest to ensure it was peaceful.
“The safety of the community is our No.1 priority,” it said.
VicRoads urged motorists to allow extra time for travel.
Monday’s protests followed another at Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market on Saturday, when hundreds of animal rights activists rallied as part of a global protest, calling for an end to slaughterhouses.
BREAKING: Dozens of “vegan vigilantes” have arrived at Carey Bros Abbatoir in Yangan in the Southern Downs. Around 20 protestors have reportedly chained themselves to equipment inside with more gathering out front @7NewsBrisbane @sunriseon7 pic.twitter.com/9MGwVrNL3m
— Mackenzie Coonan (@mackenzieravn) April 7, 2019
The Gippy Goat Cafe in West Gippsland announced on Sunday it was closing its doors, blaming “nearly four months of constant harassment, vile statements and threats from the abusive vegan activists”.
“We have personally been subjected to an appalling stream of threats of extreme violence against ourselves, our family, our staff and even their families,” operators John and Penny said on Facebook.
On Sunday, Queensland Agriculture Minister Mark Furner said he’d had a gutful of activists putting farms at risk.
He said he was drafting regulations that would allow police and agriculture ministers to slap protesters with on-the-spot fines.
-with AAP
