Overview

• Victoria Police enacted controlled-area powers for the first time during a Let Women Speak event, allowing searches, detentions, and crowd separation.
• The Women Will Speak rally, part of a global movement advocating sex-based rights, drew 50 to 100 attendees to Melbourne's Parliament House.
• Hundreds of pro-trans protesters countered the rally with chants, drums, and music, escalating tensions between the groups.
• Former MP Andy Meddick, a supporter of trans rights, was involved in a physical altercation after the rally, highlighting the personal stakes of the debate.
• Violent clashes between protesters and police continued in Melbourne's CBD, with detentions, pepper spray use, and anti-police slogans disrupting major intersections.