A silent protest against mandatory vaccines for healthcare works has been disbanded by police, after dozens took up camp in a Melbourne park.
Around 50 people gathered in the leafy Edinburgh Gardens in the inner-city suburb of Fitzroy to take part in the peaceful protest around 11am on Monday.
It comes after seven consecutive days of violent protests across the city first sparked by anger over a vaccination mandate for the construction industry.
Victoria Police have been forced to disband crowds of ‘health workers’ during a bizarre silent protest against mandatory vaccinations (pictured)
Thousands of tradesman and anti-vaxxer protesters were seen marching through the streets, some pelting squad cars and officers with bottles and other projectiles.
Hundreds of arrests have been made, with footage of ugly clashes between demonstrators and authorities still circulating on social media.
However, police were more lenient on the throngs of ‘health workers’ that sat cross-legged in the park for about 20 minutes before they were dispersed by officers.
Footage from the protest shows attendees holding posters saying ‘healthcare workers are being silenced’ and ‘last year hero, this year unemployed’.
Several attended the peaceful demonstration wearing medical scrubs.
One protester wearing a nurses uniform said ‘bus loads’ of officers arrived on the scene around 20 minutes after the protest began.
The woman confirmed no arrests were made and no fines were issued.
Around 50 ‘nurses’ gathered in the leafy Edinburgh Gardens in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy for a peaceful pro-choice protest around 11am on Monday (pictured)
One protester wearing a nurses uniform (pictured) said ‘bus loads’ of officers arrived on the scene around 20 minutes after the protest against mandatory vaccinations began
One attendee of the protest said a desire to get out of never-ending lockdowns was not a good enough reason to ‘consent to a medical treatment’ (pictured, crowds on Monday)
‘We did what we came here to do, we peacefully dispersed and that’s the end of it today,’ she explained.
‘We’re protesting against vaccine mandates, not only for the health care industry but for any industry.
‘The fact that peoples livelihoods are being threatened. The fact that people have no other choice given to them. They feel like they can’t get out of lockdowns.
The woman said she worked in vaccine hubs and claimed most of the people she vaccinated were doing it to ‘get their lives back’ rather than ‘their health and safety’.
She said a desire to get out of never-ending lockdowns was not a good enough reason to ‘consent to a medical treatment’.
‘I’m vaccinated myself but I am also pro-choice,’ she said.
Another woman attending the protest is heard complaining of the large number of public response police officers at the park.
‘There are buses of police officers… Your hard earned tax dollars at work,’ she says while filming the ring of officers standing around the protesters.
The city of Melbourne is still reeling following a week of chaotic protests between police and anti-lockdown demonstrators last week (pictured, protestors at the Shrine of Remembrance)
The city of Melbourne is still reeling following a week of chaotic protests between police and anti-lockdown demonstrators last week.
The violent scenes in Melbourne kicked off last Monday when construction workers angry about vaccination mandates mobbed the CFMEU headquarters in the CBD.
Hours later Premier Dan Andrews announced he was shutting down Victoria’s $22billion construction industry for two weeks from September 21.
Tuesday marked another day of violent clashes between police and tradesman in hi-vis clothing, who gathered outside Victoria’s Parliament House.
The protests hit an all-time low on Wednesday when more than 400 protesters marched through the CBD and gathered at the Shrine of Remembrance.
The protests hit an all-time low on Wednesday when more than 400 protesters marched through the CBD and gathered at the Shrine of Remembrance (pictured)
Police made 215 arrests while two officers suffered head injuries after bottles were thrown at them during protests at the Shrine of Remembrance on Wednesday (pictured)
Demonstrators chanted ‘lest we forget’ and sung the national anthem – before throwing rocks at the cops, leading riot police to clear the site by firing rubber bullets and firing gas grenades.
Police made 215 arrests while two officers suffered head injuries after bottles were thrown at them.
Friday also saw more than 200 people arrested following unlawful protest activity in Melbourne’s CBD and inner north.
By the end of the working week, protest numbers had reduced – but Covid case numbers in Victoria are surging.
The state recorded 705 new local cases of Covid-19 and one death on Monday.