Would-be protesters hoping to attend demonstrations in Sydney this weekend have been warned they face $1,000 fines or arrest, police said on Thursday.
Almost 1,000 people have expressed their interest in attending another Black Lives Matter protest on Friday evening, according to the event’s Facebook page.
But Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing said the rally was unauthorised after a Melbourne protester tested positive for coronavirus following Saturday’s rally.
‘We all appreciate the sensitivities around [the BLM cause] and global events have left an impression on all of us, but I ask people not to attend tomorrow night’s rally,’ Mr Willing told reporters on Thursday.
He said the police have not been formally notified, and would deploy ‘significant resources’ to enforce the existing COVID-19 health order which bans mass gatherings.
People could be moved on and potentially arrested if they choose to attend Friday’s event, the assistant commissioner said.
Critics said the protesters put Aboriginal people at risk because they are more vulnerable to the deadly virus
‘We have shown a tempered and measured approach when it comes to the issuing of infringements in relation to the health orders to date. That won’t change.’
New South Wales Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said people attending Friday’s rally could be issued $1,000 fines.
‘We know that the organisers can’t control the numbers, we know they can’t meet the health obligations that are in place for everyone else,’ Mr Fuller told 2GB radio.
NSW Police are also heading to the Supreme Court on Thursday afternoon to stop a refugee rally planned for Saturday afternoon in Sydney’s CBD.
Organisers have lodged a notification for that protest with police.
It comes as a man in his 30s marched with thousands through Melbourne on Saturday and developed symptoms 24 hours later.
The protester, who is not indigenous, wore a mask but health officials still fear he may have given the virus to others.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the case could be the start of a mass outbreak. ‘This realises our worst fears,’ he told Sydney radio 2GB.
A Black Lives Matter protester has tested positive for coronavirus after attending a rally in Melbourne. Pictured: The protest
‘Now we could slip back into a second wave like other countries have.’
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said it was unlikely the man caught the virus at the protest.
‘This case is unlikely to have been acquired at the protest but we were all concerned about the possibility of transmission occurring at that protest,’ he said.
‘It’s obviously helpful that the individual wore a mask but masks are not 100 per cent protection.’
Contact tracing is under way and anyone who came face to face with the infected protester for 15 minutes or more will be asked to quarantine as part of the normal process.
Dr Sutton, who warned people not to attend Saturday’s rally, also urged people not to go to any future demonstrations.
‘We don’t want people gathering in groups larger than 20 in Victoria because of the risk to others. It is my strong recommendation not to go and it is the law,’ he said.
Tens of thousands of protesters marched through Australian cities in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Pictured: A protest in Sydney on Tuesday
Mr Willing said there were usually 800 protests in Sydney each year but it simply wasn’t safe to hold such gatherings during a pandemic.
About 20,000 people attended a Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney last Saturday after the Court of Appeal deemed it lawful less than 15 minutes before it began.
Doherty Institute epidemiology director Professor Jodie McVernon is concerned large crowds have taken to the streets
‘Clearly there’s a risk of transmission at gatherings of this kind,’ Prof McVernon said in a statement on Thursday.
‘We were pleased to see people taking individual risk mitigations and trying to keep distancing, but in a crowd of that size, that’s very challenging. We are still a highly susceptible population.’
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg also condemned the protesters, saying: ‘People shouldn’t have gathered in those numbers for those rallies. In doing so, they put the broader community’s health at risk.
‘That was the obvious message from the medical experts about those rallies. And it was very unfortunate that they proceeded in the way that that did.’
Black rights protests sprung up around the western world in response to American demonstrations following the death of black security guard George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.
Thousands of Aboriginal rights activists attended rallies in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide on Saturday despite health officials warning they could cause COVID-19 outbreaks.
This morning Prime Minister Scott Morrison slammed the protesters and said he wanted anyone attending future rallies to be charged with breaking public health orders.
‘I think they should. I mean, I really do think they should, because they’ll be kind of a double standard here,’ he told Melbourne radio 3AW.
‘I think the issues of last weekend were very difficult, but I think people carrying it on now, it’s not about that.
‘It’s about people pushing a whole bunch of other barrows now, and it puts others lives and livelihoods at risk.’
Mr Morrison added: ‘I saw some people say, when they attended this rally, ‘oh I knew the risk I was taking by attending’.
People hold up placards at a Black Lives Matter protest to express solidarity with US protesters in Melbourne on June 6
‘They were talking about themselves, they weren’t talking about the Australians who weren’t there, you know, millions of quiet Australians who have done the right thing.’
The Prime Minister said protesters had prevented more restrictions being lifted as health officials wait two weeks to see if the demonstrations cause a spike in cases.
‘By all means raise your issue. But by doing this, they have put the whole track to recovery at risk,’ he told Sydney radio 2GB.
As state leaders face growing calls to lift more restrictions, Mr Morrison said: ‘The rally last weekend is the only legitimate blocker.’
Deputy chief medical officer Professor Michael Kidd said it was too early to tell if the protests will cause a spike.
‘The incubation period for COVID-19 is five to seven days, up to 14 days. So we will only start seeing new cases occurring if that transmission had occurred on the weekend over the days ahead,’ he told ABC News this morning.
‘We’re continuing to be very cautious and obviously we need to see what happens over the next few days.’
In total Victoria reported eight new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, two in hotel quarantine and six from community transmission.
New South Wales reported zero new cases and Queensland reported one, a returned traveller.