Jacqui Lambie explodes at protesters who stormed Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance

Jacqui Lambie has unleashed an explosive attack on protesters who stormed a war memorial and left a trail of destruction, accusing them of abusing the freedoms veterans fought for.

Melbourne is bracing for a fourth day of chaos, hours after 400 protesters stormed Victoria’s Shrine of Remembrance to rally against vaccine mandates and the shutdown of the construction industry.

The mob chanted ‘lest we forget’ as they stood in front of the monument built to honour the state’s men and women who served in World War I during in a tense stand off with police.

Protesters urged officers not to arrest them out of ‘respect for the Anzacs’ as others claimed they were ‘fighting for the same thing as our forefathers’.

The ugly scenes sparked nationwide public outrage with Senator Lambie among the millions left disgusted.

The former Australian Army veteran launched into an angry tirade as she described the protesters as an embarrassment.

Protesters descended on Victoria’s Shrine of Remembrance on Wednesday, sparking nationwide  anger

‘I can tell you now for those who have served, for those who have serving they are absolutely disgusted,’ the outspoken federal senator fumed on the Today show on Thursday.

‘To walk on that Shrine, to walk on that sacred ground and drop your cigarettes and your beer cans all over the place and to do what you did is absolutely a whole new low for you people and I can tell you now if you think this is giving you more support and you are building you’ve got to be kidding yourself because it is not just veterans that see what is going on.’

‘I remind you people as well through blood, sweat and tears is the reason you have your freedoms because all these people have fought for this country to have that and to stand there and say, ‘Lest we forget,’ 

‘I tell you, we’re not forgetting your performance yesterday.’ 

A former Australian Army veteran, Jacqui Lambie was furious with protesters and described them as an embarrassment

She added the scenes have not only angered veterans but the rest of Australia.

‘They are seeing what is going on and have a very, very soft heart for veterans and those who have served so all you are doing is p****** everybody off,’ her rant continued.

‘You want to go out there and so this stuff that’s fine but do it in peace.’

‘I remind you people as well through blood, sweat and tears is the reason you have your freedoms because all these people have fought for this country to have that and to stand there and say, ‘Lest we forget,’ I tell you we’re not forgetting your performance yesterday.’ 

Senator Lambie defended the actions of riot squad forced to fire tear gas, rubber bullets and other projectiles after protesters became hostile and refused to leave.

‘Victoria has paid the price the last 18 months and I understand there are people who are angry but this is not the way to go around it,’ she said.

‘Our first responders, whether police, nurses, aged-care workers, whatever, they are at the point of exhaustion after going through Covid so to do this to our own police force, I have to ask them do they have no respect for anybody let alone themselves

‘Honestly, it is enough. This is not the Australian way. We didn’t lose people through wars, people didn’t lose their husbands, their fathers through wars to give you these freedoms you have today and you’re abusing them, absolutely abusing them.’

Around 400 protesters had a tense stand-off with police at Victoria’s Shrine of Remembrance

Up to 400 protestors swarmed Melbourne’s CBD on Wednesday for a third day running, despite repeated warnings from authorities to stay home.

The protests initially began in opposition to mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations for the construction sector and the closure of building site tea rooms, but have since turned into wider unrest after the state government shut doen the industry for two weeks.

Chanting ‘every day’ from the Shrine of Remembrance, hundreds without masks – some still wearing high-visibility clothing – marched through the city to the war memorial.  

Police made 215 arrests while two officers suffered head injuries after bottles were thrown at them. 

‘It was completely disrespectful that the crowd ended up at the shrine, which is such hallowed ground in this great city,’ Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Ross Guenther.

‘Our general observation from the people on the ground was that there weren’t as many tradies involved,’ Mr Guenther said.

‘We will vary our tactics tomorrow. But, of course, my message is don’t come into the city,’ the deputy commissioner said.

Senator Lambie defended the actions of riot police (pictured) forced to fire tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who refused to leave

RSL Victoria said the mob had disrespected the sanctity of the sacred site, while Shrine of Remembrance chair Stephen Bowater called it ‘disgraceful’. 

Veterans’ Affairs Minister Andrew Gee said the protesters should be condemned in the strongest possible terms and should apologise.

‘To use it as a protest site violates this sanctity and denigrates and disrespects the memory of those who have served and sacrificed so much for our nation,’ he said.

‘There can be no justification for this outrage.’

Victoria recorded 628 new coronavirus cases and three more deaths on Wednesday, the highest daily tally of the state’s current outbreak.

Jacqui Lambie described protesters at Victoria’s Shrine of Remembrance as ‘a whole new low’

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said those involved should be ashamed of their ‘disgraceful’ behaviour.

‘Those scenes were disgraceful and the conduct was disgraceful,’ he told reporters in Washington.

 ‘This is a sacred place, it is not a place of protest. It dishonoured those Australians who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice. 

‘I would hope all who engaged in that disgraceful behaviour would be ashamed.’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk