Dozens arrested at Melbourne vaccine protest as police warn ongoing investigations to track more attendees

Earlier, the riot squad, supported by police on horseback, warned the group to stay back and fired rubber bullets into the crowd near the Queen Victoria Market.

Around 500 police officers were deployed to quell the protests.

Protesters on the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne, Tuesday, September 21, 2021. Source: AAP

Empty bottles and cans were thrown back at police.

The crowd then walked towards the police line with hands raised chanting "you serve us".

Victoria Police chief commissioner Shane Patton said 44 people had so far been arrested but police expected many more, as the protest was still unfolding as he addressed the media on Tuesday evening.

"That number will continue to grow," he said.

He said police would be conducting "ongoing investigations" on those attended the protest.

"Those investigations have already started to hold people to account for their conduct and they will continue on in the days to come." 

Empty cans of rum and cola lay strewn across the road outside Parliament once the crowd had moved on.

Many walking with the crowd are carrying cans and bottles of alcohol, others are wearing the Australian flag as a cape, another is carrying a Trump 2020 flag.

Seven Network reporter Paul Dowsley said he was grabbed by the throat and a cameraman was thrown to the ground.

He was later assaulted with a can of drink thrown at his head.

"I've been grabbed around the neck today, I've had urine tipped on me, now I've had a can of energy drink thrown on me," Mr Dowsley said in a live cross following the assault.

Commissioner Patton said the violence was unacceptable.

"We have seen throughout the day variously a journalist attacked numerous times. We've seen three police officers injured. That's totally unacceptable."

Not long before the protesters started marching from near the CFMEU office in the morning, police had told them to back down and leave.

"Attention, this is a police public order warning. You have previously been directed to leave," an officer inside a line of riot police and officers on horseback told the crowd.

"Leave now or force may be used. No further warnings will be given."

The group were chanting "f*** the jab", "f*** off (Premier) Dan Andrews", among other expletives and were blocked from accessing the CFMEU by a line of Victoria Police officers.

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Sally McManus, secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, said there were "extremists" among those in the crowd spreading "misinformation and lies" about the vaccine to further their own ends.

"This protest has been called for, led and promoted by far-right groups and anti-vax groups and there is a big overlap between the two at the moment, unfortunately."

She said a strong government public health campaign was needed to counter their messaging.

"Union leaders and the trade union movement in Australia will not be intimidated around this issue and certainly not by these people. We will not," she told ABC News.

Anti-mandatory vaccination Melbourne protest turns violent

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation called on the city protesters to "stop thinking only of themselves, stop the violence and put the health and welfare of the Victorian community first".

"Nurses, midwives and carers are exhausted and frustrated as they watch protesters fight for their right to overwhelm our health system," secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said in a statement.

On Monday, riot police were called in to disperse a group of about 500 protesters, who threw bottles at the Victorian construction branch secretary John Setka and smashed the office's door down.

Mr Setka on Tuesday said the protesters were not all CFMEU members and blamed "neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists" for hijacking the event.

"There was a small minority of construction workers, some of them when it all got violent just walked away from it. It was hijacked by the professional protesters," Mr Setka told ABC Radio National on Tuesday morning. 

He said the CFMEU was "pro-vax" but had always supported freedom of choice regarding vaccination.

Mr Setka urged the Victorian government to tackle misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine.

CFMEU Victorian secretary John Setka Source: AAP

Former union leader and federal member for Maribyrnong Bill Shorten said he believed a group of professional troublemakers was to blame for Monday's "shocking violence". 

"I never thought I would see a scene where you have people who call themselves Nazis using encrypted message systems to bring in a rent-a-crowd," he told the Nine Network on Tuesday.

"Some of those people ... I'm reliably informed were fake tradies.

"There is a network of hard-right, man-baby Nazis, just people who just want to cause trouble - these man-babies, they want to complain about vaccinations."

Victorian Health says 403 direct cases linked to construction industry

Construction shutdown

On Monday night, the state government announced the construction industry would be shut down for two weeks in metropolitan Melbourne, City of Ballarat, City of Greater Geelong, Surf Coast Shire and Mitchell Shire.

All worksites will need to demonstrate compliance with health directions prior to reopening.

This includes a requirement for workers to show evidence of having had at least one dose of a vaccine before they return to work on 5 October.

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Only critical infrastructure, including hospitals and ongoing level crossing removal works, will continue during the shutdown - giving time for the workforce to get vaccinated. 

"We've been clear: if you don't follow the rules, we won't hesitate to take action. We have seen widespread non-compliance across the industry and that's why we're taking necessary steps to protect every single Victorian," Industrial Relations Minister Tim Pallas said in a statement.

"We put the industry on notice just a week ago. We have seen appalling behaviour on-site and on our streets, and now we're acting decisively and without hesitation."

Victoria announced 603 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases and one death on Tuesday.

There are now 403 cases directly linked to construction, Health Minister Martin Foley said, from 186 work sites.

Additional reporting by AAP.

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