The top leaders of nearly all the parties in Australia are calling protests completely unacceptable in the era of COVID, and demanding that all the protestors be arrested for violating public health laws.
Black Lives Matter protests 'completely unacceptable', Scott Morrison says in call for demonstrators to be charged
https://dailycaller.com/2020/06/10/news-anchors-coronavirus-spikes-reopening-ignoring-protests/
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has demanded an end to further Black Lives Matter protests, saying some protests have been hijacked by left-wing movements and demonstrators at future events should be charged.
Mr Morrison has previously urged Australians not to attend the mass protests against Indigenous incarceration rates and deaths in custody, citing the risk of COVID-19.
Today he ramped up his rhetoric, saying developments overseas, where protesters have torn down statues of historical figures deemed responsible for atrocities such as slavery and genocide, showed the Black Lives Matter movement had been "taken over by much more politically driven left-wing agendas".
"We've got to be honest about our history, we've also got to respect our history as well," he said.
"This is not a licence for people to go nuts on this stuff."
He accused protesters of setting back efforts to lift coronavirus restrictions.
"Certainly any further action on this front would be absolutely unacceptable," he said.
"The double standards that [protesters] allowed themselves to perpetrate by turning up has offended, rightly I think, Australians right across the country.
"The way that it was done and the suggestion that they might do it again risks public support for even the issue they raise."
Mr Morrison said protesters who attended rallies in breach of public health orders should face charges.
Doctors said the man may have been infectious at the protest, but was unlikely to have contracted the virus there.
A rally is being planned for tomorrow evening in Sydney, to protest against the number of black deaths in custody in Australia.
The protest is being opposed by police on public health grounds, as is another planned protest on the rights of refugees.
Mr Morrison said while the issue of Indigenous incarceration was one worthy of protest, it was not appropriate for advocates to gather en masse during a pandemic.
"The rally last weekend is the only legitimate real blocker to [easing restrictions further] at the moment, because we actually don't know whether those rallies on the weekend may have caused outbreaks," he said.
"It just puts a massive spanner in the works."
One of the organisers for tomorrow's protest, Raul Bassi, said he would "wait and see" before deciding whether the rally would go ahead.
"Yes the virus is a big problem," he said.
"But we think there is another virus going around, and we have to respond now.
"That virus is the virus based in racism. It's a virus that kills Aboriginal people."
Mr Morrison's calls were echoed by crossbench senator Jacqui Lambie, who said the risk of a second wave of coronavirus was too great.
"I just find this really, really reckless," she said.
"If Black Lives Matter so much then why are you putting them at risk?"
Yesterday, four Labor MPs were sent home from Parliament and told to get tested for COVID-19 "as an abundance of caution", after attending rallies over the weekend.
Two have since returned negative tests.
Shadow minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney labelled the Prime Minister's rhetoric inflammatory.
"What's absolutely crucial is people make their decisions after they consider the health advice," she said.
"The last thing we need at the moment are statements such as the Prime Minister's, which are quite contentious and antagonistic.
"What's required right now is strong political leadership and understanding that people are very serious about deaths in custody."
Labor leader Anthony Albanese, whose multicultural affairs spokesman is calling for a national action plan to combat racism, backed the Prime Minister's calls for protesters to stay home.
"Listen to the health advice, simple as that," he said.
Black Lives Matter protests 'completely unacceptable', Scott Morrison says in call for demonstrators to be charged
https://dailycaller.com/2020/06/10/news-anchors-coronavirus-spikes-reopening-ignoring-protests/
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has demanded an end to further Black Lives Matter protests, saying some protests have been hijacked by left-wing movements and demonstrators at future events should be charged.
Mr Morrison has previously urged Australians not to attend the mass protests against Indigenous incarceration rates and deaths in custody, citing the risk of COVID-19.
Today he ramped up his rhetoric, saying developments overseas, where protesters have torn down statues of historical figures deemed responsible for atrocities such as slavery and genocide, showed the Black Lives Matter movement had been "taken over by much more politically driven left-wing agendas".
"We've got to be honest about our history, we've also got to respect our history as well," he said.
"This is not a licence for people to go nuts on this stuff."
He accused protesters of setting back efforts to lift coronavirus restrictions.
"Certainly any further action on this front would be absolutely unacceptable," he said.
"The double standards that [protesters] allowed themselves to perpetrate by turning up has offended, rightly I think, Australians right across the country.
"The way that it was done and the suggestion that they might do it again risks public support for even the issue they raise."
Mr Morrison said protesters who attended rallies in breach of public health orders should face charges.
Doctors said the man may have been infectious at the protest, but was unlikely to have contracted the virus there.
A rally is being planned for tomorrow evening in Sydney, to protest against the number of black deaths in custody in Australia.
The protest is being opposed by police on public health grounds, as is another planned protest on the rights of refugees.
Mr Morrison said while the issue of Indigenous incarceration was one worthy of protest, it was not appropriate for advocates to gather en masse during a pandemic.
"The rally last weekend is the only legitimate real blocker to [easing restrictions further] at the moment, because we actually don't know whether those rallies on the weekend may have caused outbreaks," he said.
"It just puts a massive spanner in the works."
One of the organisers for tomorrow's protest, Raul Bassi, said he would "wait and see" before deciding whether the rally would go ahead.
"Yes the virus is a big problem," he said.
"But we think there is another virus going around, and we have to respond now.
"That virus is the virus based in racism. It's a virus that kills Aboriginal people."
Mr Morrison's calls were echoed by crossbench senator Jacqui Lambie, who said the risk of a second wave of coronavirus was too great.
"I just find this really, really reckless," she said.
"If Black Lives Matter so much then why are you putting them at risk?"
Yesterday, four Labor MPs were sent home from Parliament and told to get tested for COVID-19 "as an abundance of caution", after attending rallies over the weekend.
Two have since returned negative tests.
Shadow minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney labelled the Prime Minister's rhetoric inflammatory.
"What's absolutely crucial is people make their decisions after they consider the health advice," she said.
"The last thing we need at the moment are statements such as the Prime Minister's, which are quite contentious and antagonistic.
"What's required right now is strong political leadership and understanding that people are very serious about deaths in custody."
Labor leader Anthony Albanese, whose multicultural affairs spokesman is calling for a national action plan to combat racism, backed the Prime Minister's calls for protesters to stay home.
"Listen to the health advice, simple as that," he said.
