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dpa
Sydney
Australia’s Victoria shut down its construction industry in locked-down areas for two weeks on Tuesday after protests against the government’s vaccine mandate.
The shutdown came into force overnight and applies to metropolitan Melbourne and other parts of the state currently in lockdown.
In the announcement, industrial relations minister Tim Pallas said there had been “widespread non-compliance” with lockdown restrictions across the industry and said there had been “appalling behaviour on site and on our streets.” But in a Tuesday press conference, state officials sought to avoid directly linking the shutdown to the Melbourne protest the day before.
State Health Minister Martin Foley called the protest “deplorable” but said the decision was made on the recommendation of the chief health officer and cited the mobility of the industry’s workforce and poor compliance with health orders shown by a series of spot checks on construction sites.
A deadline for construction workers to receive a first dose of coronavirus vaccine to continue to work will effectively be moved to October 5 when the industry is allowed to resume work, Pallas said.
Riot police were deployed to disperse the Monday protests against vaccine mandates for the construction industry in Melbourne’s city centre outside the CFMEU union head office, local media reported.
An angry crowd of around 500 people threw bottles and a crate at the CFMEU state union boss John Setka when he tried to address the protest, broadcaster ABC reported.
Setka said there were “professional protesters” involved in the Monday clashes and that union members “weren’t the majority there,” in comments to ABC.
Meanwhile Sally McManus, secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), told Sky News Australia the violence in Melbourne was led by “violent anti-vaxxer extremists.” Local media reported further protests had started Tuesday morning.
A group in high-vis jackets chanting “fuck the jab” were blocked from accessing the CFMEU union building by police officers, news agency AAP reported.
Video shared on social media showed crowds of people, many in high-vis jackets, chanting on the streets by the state capital parliament building, which was guarded by riot police.
The shutdown could cost the economy 1.1 billion Australian dollars (800 million dollars) per week, according to Property Council of Australia estimate cited by AAP.
Victoria has been in lockdown for weeks. The state recorded 603 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday and one death.
Australia, with a population of 25 million, long sought to eradicate the virus with a zero-Covid strategy, but after failing to contain several Delta variant outbreaks, some states have shifted to achieving vaccination targets as a way out of lockdown.
Sydney
Australia’s Victoria shut down its construction industry in locked-down areas for two weeks on Tuesday after protests against the government’s vaccine mandate.
The shutdown came into force overnight and applies to metropolitan Melbourne and other parts of the state currently in lockdown.
In the announcement, industrial relations minister Tim Pallas said there had been “widespread non-compliance” with lockdown restrictions across the industry and said there had been “appalling behaviour on site and on our streets.” But in a Tuesday press conference, state officials sought to avoid directly linking the shutdown to the Melbourne protest the day before.
State Health Minister Martin Foley called the protest “deplorable” but said the decision was made on the recommendation of the chief health officer and cited the mobility of the industry’s workforce and poor compliance with health orders shown by a series of spot checks on construction sites.
A deadline for construction workers to receive a first dose of coronavirus vaccine to continue to work will effectively be moved to October 5 when the industry is allowed to resume work, Pallas said.
Riot police were deployed to disperse the Monday protests against vaccine mandates for the construction industry in Melbourne’s city centre outside the CFMEU union head office, local media reported.
An angry crowd of around 500 people threw bottles and a crate at the CFMEU state union boss John Setka when he tried to address the protest, broadcaster ABC reported.
Setka said there were “professional protesters” involved in the Monday clashes and that union members “weren’t the majority there,” in comments to ABC.
Meanwhile Sally McManus, secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), told Sky News Australia the violence in Melbourne was led by “violent anti-vaxxer extremists.” Local media reported further protests had started Tuesday morning.
A group in high-vis jackets chanting “fuck the jab” were blocked from accessing the CFMEU union building by police officers, news agency AAP reported.
Video shared on social media showed crowds of people, many in high-vis jackets, chanting on the streets by the state capital parliament building, which was guarded by riot police.
The shutdown could cost the economy 1.1 billion Australian dollars (800 million dollars) per week, according to Property Council of Australia estimate cited by AAP.
Victoria has been in lockdown for weeks. The state recorded 603 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday and one death.
Australia, with a population of 25 million, long sought to eradicate the virus with a zero-Covid strategy, but after failing to contain several Delta variant outbreaks, some states have shifted to achieving vaccination targets as a way out of lockdown.
