Overview
- Two police officers were hospitalised after clashes between a March for Australia rally and counter-protesters in the CBD, with rocks, rotten fruit and bottles reported thrown.
- Victoria Police used capsicum spray and rubber bullets, a response Commander Wayne Cheeseman defended as proportionate to protester actions.
- Only one person has been arrested so far from the protest, with CCTV being used to identify additional violent participants.
- In a separate incident near Luna Park in St Kilda, two teenagers suffered minor injuries in a machete attack before the offenders fled in a car.
- The government points to a machete ban with an amnesty through November 30 and tougher bail laws as crime data show CBD incidents rose more than 20% to 35,241 in the year to June.