22 Sep 2021

Melbourne construction workers protest shutdown

From Morning Report, 8:29 am on 22 September 2021

Melbourne police fired pepper balls and stinger grenades at violent anti-lockdown protesters yesterday.

Many protesters are construction workers, wearing their uniforms to demonstrate their frustration with the shutdown of Victoria's construction industry.

The city's residents are on their 234th day of lockdown since March of last year.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews is promising that the state's lockdown will lift once it reaches the target of 70 percent of adults fully vaccinated against Covid-19, which it is projected to hit in late October.

Andrews has condemned the protesters' actions, describing their march through the CBD and shouting anti-vaccination chants as "terrible behaviour".

Union leaders say far-right extremists were also involved in orchestrating the protest.

ABC news journalist Oliver Gordon spoke Susie Ferguson.