Friday, 18 September, 2025
Premier Jacinta Allan's failure to curb the chaos from weekly protests in Melbourne has ripped $25 million out of the Victoria Police budget.
The overall cost to Victorians is much higher, with businesses impacted by the regular protests and the drop in visitor numbers caused by unruly behaviour.
The Parliamentary Budget Office calculated that police had spent $14.9 million on salaries and $10.2 million on operating costs for Operation Park between October 2023 to August this year.
Victoria Police advised that 23,928 police shifts had been deployed under Operation Park as at August 18, 2025.
New South Wales Labor premier Chris Minns has said police should be able to shut down protests that were a "huge drain on the public purse" when the cost to his state had reached just $5 million.
Leader of the Opposition, Brad Battin, said: "We support the right to protest, but we don't support intimidating people, disrupting businesses and wasting police resources.
"Labor has failed to curb out of control weekly protests that have hijacked our city and made Melbourne a less safe and less fun place to visit.
"The Liberals and Nationals will restore police funding and bring back move-on powers.
"We'll introduce a protest registration system to ensure protests don't divert police attention from fighting crime."
Shadow Minister for Police, David Southwick, said: "Under Jacinta Allan, Victoria has gone from the protest state to the hate state, and her weak leadership has allowed extremists to hijack our streets without consequences.
"Victorians are paying $20 million a day in interest on Labor's debt, while Jacinta Allan has cut $50 million from the police budget, closed stations and left us 2000 police short.
"It's little wonder Victorians can't get police when they need them, with nearly 50 per cent of crimes going unsolved while almost 24,000 police shifts have been tied up with weekly protests.
"Our protest registration system will balance the right to protest with the need to keep Victorians safe."
Shadow Minister for Tourism, Sport, Events and Hospitality, Sam Groth, said: "Weekly protests disrupting Melbourne not only costs police resources but also costs businesses and damages Victoria's reputation as a destination city.
"Victoria's tourism industry is still struggling to recover from the Covid era, while Victoria is the only state or territory to see short-term international arrivals fall over the past 12 months as protesters shut down businesses and streets every week.
"People are staying away from the city because of these protests, meaning less trade for business, fewer shifts for workers and lower economic activity."
