NSW Police say a strike force has been set up to hunt down more than 3,500 protesters who gathered at Sydney’s Victoria Park, opposite Broadway shopping centre, after marching into Sydney’s CBD on Saturday to protest widespread lockdowns in NSW.
NSW Police issued over 90 infringement notices to people at the demonstration, charged 57 and say more arrests are likely.
What we saw today was 3,500 very selfish boofheads — people that thought the law didn’t apply to them,” NSW Police Minister David Elliott said.
“This is not a time for people to be out of their homes. This was a disgraceful action today.”
A short story #sydneyprotest pic.twitter.com/VPjzY32Drx
— charbel (@chaaarbs) July 24, 2021
Flying Australian and Eureka flags and carrying placards "freedom", "I do not consent", "drain the swamp" and "authority comes from God", the crowd clashed with dozens of officers as demonstrations of different scale went ahead in major cities across Australia.
Demonstrations were also held in Melbourne, Brisbane and other major towns. About 500 people took part in the protest in Wollongong.
A friend sent me this from #wollongong looks like #lockdown is going well #COVID19nsw #auspoI pic.twitter.com/vKzLxigkgD
— Matt Shirlaw (@mshirlaw) July 24, 2021
People in Greater Sydney and its surrounds have been living in lockdown for exactly four weeks, as an outbreak of the Delta coronavirus variant continues to spread.
NSW recorded 163 new cases of locally acquired Covid-19 cases today, compared to 12 in Victoria, as Health Minister Brad Hazzard blasted the commonwealth and other states for ‘casting aside’ NSW when in need.
