Police to be recalled from manhunt to protect Sunday protests

Amid the search for the man accused of ambushing and killing two police officers in Victoria’s High Country, two protests in Melbourne are set to test the limits of Victoria Police resources.

A planned anti-immigration march, called the March for Australia, is set to coincide with the weekly pro-Palestine march through Melbourne CBD on Sunday, diverting police away from the hunt for alleged murderer Dezi Freeman in its crucial first weekend.

Police at a Melbourne protest in 2024. Officers will be diverted from the search for Dezi Freeman to be in Melbourne this weekend.Credit: Eddie Jim

At a media conference on Friday in Wangaratta, Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said the force’s priority was to continue to scour dense bushland for Freeman, who has been on the run since he allegedly killed two officers and wounded a third on Tuesday morning. Bush conceded that officers would need to be diverted to ensure public safety at Sunday’s protests.

“The number one priority for the Victoria Police is the hunt for this [alleged] murderer, and we’re pouring in over 450 resources to that and every other resource we have,” he said.

“We’re also conscious that the Victoria Police have many other demands, and that includes the protest activity this weekend. Our mission there will be to deploy a large resource also to ensure that those people that are out protesting peacefully are kept safe. So that too is a priority, and we will resource that, and we will resource the other demands.”

The March for Australia is expected to attract far-right extremists as well as a significant counter-protest. Organisers have called on supporters to “take our country back”, “defend our heritage” and “stop mass migration”.

Police officers in Porepunkah on Friday.Credit: Justin McManus

By Friday afternoon, more than 650 people had responded to the Facebook event saying they were going, with a further 1200 interested.

Thousands of protesters march through Melbourne’s streets in support of Palestine every Sunday. The pro-Palestine rally is set to start at the State Library at 11am, while the March for Australia will kick off at Flinders Street Station, 900 metres away, at midday.

Superintendent Troy Papworth said police would have to mount “a significant operational response to ensure we maintain public order and safety”.

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“It’s extremely frustrating that in the midst of a major police operation in Porepunkah we’ve got to allocate significant resources to these protests,” he said on 3AW on Friday morning.

“We’ve just lost two of our colleagues and we are in the process of tracking down an armed and dangerous fugitive, yet we are having to respond to protesters intent on causing disruption and violence.”

Papworth didn’t offer specifics about the number of officers needed, but said the force would need to draw on police from across the state and the Public Order Response Team. He also didn’t speculate on how many people were expected in the CBD on Sunday.

“Our concern for the [March for Australia] protest at Flinders Street – whilst there is an apparent lack of detail as to who exactly is organising this event – our intelligence suggests that there are groups and individuals who hold far-right extremist ideologies and views who are organising … and they are like to attend and cause disruption,” he said.

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