protest organisers raided and arrested

[bravn]

(seems a bit extreme)
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/victorian-a ... onstration

Two men accused of planning an anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne have had their homes raided and been arrested.

Police vowed to crack down on the protest, planned in Melbourne's CBD on Sunday, calling it a "blatant breach" of COVID-19 restrictions.

Officers seized phones and a computer, charging a 41-year-old Mooroolbark man with incitement. A 41-year-old Chirnside Park man is expected to be charged on Friday.

The Facebook event has called on people to protest in opposition to the city's six-week shutdown and claimed to be a broader movement of planned protests.

"Let's blow this one up and fill up the streets to show these criminals we won't give up our country and livelihoods without a fight," the event description reads.

It had more than 100 confirmed attendees and 400 expressions of interest late on Thursday evening.

If they turn up, Victoria Police said it wouldn't hesitate to hand out $1652 on-the-spot fines or arrest protesters.

"This is a completely blatant breach of the chief health officer's directions and puts Victorian lives at risk," police said.

As the number of cases grow - 471 new ones on Thursday - so too do the number of fines.

Police reported nearly 200 more people being fined by Friday morning, including a man claiming to police in Maroondah at 3.40am that he was breaching the curfew to feed his uncle's horses.

They were among 43 people fined for breaching curfew, while 51 were fined for not wearing a mask.

Thursday marked a move to tough new restrictions on workers and businesses in Melbourne, while regional Victoria officially entered stage three rules.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the harsh restrictions were the "only way" the state would drive down cases.

[allde]

About time they did something, they should of sprayed all the BLM protesters (Marxists Puppets) and arrested/fined them too.

[Hardy]

People who don’t give a rat’s about lock-downs, curfews, masks and social distancing significantly overlap the segment of people who don’t give a rat’s about speed limits, drivers licences, drug driving, p plates, dealing with outstanding fines/warrants etc. So at 8PM every night the chance of police finding an idiot when they randomly intercept a vehicle jumps to 50%. It must be making the HWP job extremely easy.

[FarSur81]

I'm still puzzled as to the legally how they can do this.
As in how can the government force people to stay at home, when the constitution says as a free man I can travel this country unabind, I think the weird word was.

[Hardy]

Actually, the constitution doesn't say that. Considering it was written at a time when 40 day quarantine for small pox was sometimes mandatory that is not surprising.
Here's some reading if you're interested:
https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament ... 405/05rp03

[LEO]

but the constitution does allow for freedom of political communication, which may lead to some interesting court decisions regarding this in the near future.

[Hardy]

That was inferred by the High Court when it declared invalid some laws that purported to restrict what could be broadcast during an election campaign. But the freedom of expression isn't expressly stated in the Constitution.

[Gravy]

About time they did something, they should of sprayed all the BLM protesters (Marxists Puppets) and arrested/fined them too.

The BLM march happened during stage two restrictions, and the organisers were indeed fined. These anti-lockdown protesters are running about during stage four restrictions. It's a different context.