Six people have been arrested after rival protest groups clashed in the heart of Melbourne as outnumbered police tried desperately to keep them apart and away from passersby.
Pepper spray wasn’t enough to separate the 5000 protesters as anti-immigration protests took over Australian cities.
A chaotic game of cat and mouse occupied the streets for more than seven hours today and footage shows the two sides clashing and shouting at each other.
Thousands turned up in Sydney, despite the protests being condemned by leaders. (Max Mason-Hubers/AFR)Protesters and counter-protesters clash in Melbourne. (Getty)
They gathered in their thousands at Flinders Street draped in Australian flags.
One protester pushing for an end to “mass immigration” claimed it wasn’t about race.
“If you come here you respect the country. You respect the culture. You adapt and be one of us. We’re all brothers,” another said.
But behind genuine displays of pride, known neo-Nazis were taking control.
Thomas Sewell, a self-proclaimed white nationalist was given the prime speaking spot from the steps of parliament.
Protesters gathered in Sydney. (Max Mason/Australian Financial Review)
“Today our men stood at the front of the march and when the Palestinians and the communists came charging at the Aussie flags it was our men that fought back,” he said.
He was flanked by dozens of members of his Neo-Nazi National Socialist Network who led a crowd of thousands down Bourke Street turning some of the city’s most famous landmarks into props for their hateful ideology.
Before they marched they turned on each other, attacking right-wing podcaster Avi Yemini and his security entourage.
The protest was largely peaceful in Sydney, with only one person arrested. (Nine)Protesters at the anti-immigration March for Australia protest outside Flinders Street Station in Melbourne. (Penny Stephens/The Age)
“They’re there to promote hate in the community, to blame people for their gripes and their complaints and their whinges, and they’re just unhinged grubs,” Police Minister Anthony Carbines said.
As the violence escalated from both sides, Nine’s own camera man was knocked to the ground as a protester tried – and failed – to steal his equipment.
Six arrests were made and two police officers were injured after being hit by bottles thrown at them.
Anti-immigration protesters demonstrate outside Flinders Street Station in Melbourne. (Getty)
One arrested in Sydney
One person was arrested in Sydney as thousands joined the march, police said.
The woman was arrested in Hyde Park for allegedly breaching the peace and was taken to Day Street Police Station.
Organisers of the rallies had called for there to be no violence and denied any links to neo-Nazis.
Pro-Australia protesters in Brisbane. (Nine)
NSW Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Scott Tanner said it was an “amazing effort” from police.
“There’s no further investigations into any matters that occurred today,” he said.
Thousands of people gathered at Belmore Park in the city for the rally.
“We are not a racist country, we just want a good caliber of people here in here,” one woman said.
They are calling for limits or an end to migration.
The anti-immigration rally in Brisbane. (9News)
There was a huge police presence with several hundred funnelling the march down Broadway.
There were fears that the march could be hijacked by neo-Nazi hate groups and they were there front and centre leading the march.
Members of a White Australia group, were there with their leader Jack Eltis.
“But we are here because anti-immigration is our key political issue,” he told 9News.
When asked if the group was racist he replied: “Yeah we are racist. We are proud of who we are as white men, we built this nation.”
He also confirmed the group’s members were “neo-Nazis”.
The front of the march might have presented one picture but the bulk of those marching behind appeared to be anything but extremist
At the end, at an open mic session the White Australia group seized control.
It was a large gathering in Brisbane. (9News)
It was a hate speech and wasn’t winning over the majority of the crowd.
When Eltis finished speaking, police ushered the group away.
A few blocks away a march by the Refugee Action Coalition was a counter-protest condemning the White Australia group.
