Anti-lockdown protesters using encrypted apps and buoyed by rising community anger are planning mass rallies across the nation for Saturday – as police warn organisers to cancel the events or face arrest
- Protesters are again using encrypted apps to coordinate protest rallies
- Anti-lockdown marches are expected to take place across the country
- In Melbourne, the location of the rally will remain a secret to hamper police
- The tactic has been used in Melbourne in previous anti-lockdown protests
- Victoria Police has previously turned-out in force to deter the lockdown protests
- Victoria recorded 26 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours to midnight on Thursday
Coordinated anti-lockdown protests are planned to take place in major cities across Australia on Saturday - but police say they're ready.
Anti-lockdown protesters in every state are being organised from Melbourne, where residents have just ticked-over six months in hard lockdown since the Covid-19 pandemic struck Australia.
Rallies all the way north in Cairns, where Covid has long been regarded as a foreign word, are included in the protest hit list.
Anti-lockdown protesters marched through Melbourne;s CBD after its fifth lockdown was announced
Protesters were on the streets quickly on July 15 after Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced he would lock them down again
Protests are planned across the county this weekend
In Darwin, which copped a taste of Covid lockdown last month when the virus escaped hotel quarantine in Queensland, protesters have been told to gather at Raintree Park.
In Brisbane, it's the Botanic Gardens and in Sydney they will aim to meet at Victoria Park.
A protest has even been planned in Tasmania, whose government is more accustomed to locking out Australians than locking them in.
In Victoria, where another 26 Covid-19 cases were recorded overnight, the location of the protest will remain a secret until half-an-hour before it is due to begin.
It is a tactic that has been used previously by protest groups in an effort to avoid interception by Victoria Police officers.
Lockdown protests over the past year and a half have not ended well for those that attend in Victoria where police come armed with pepper spray and riot gear.
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On Thursday, Victoria Police warned would-be rebels to think twice before breaking lockdown rules.
'Those who choose to blatantly disregard the Chief Health Officer's directions and put the health and safety of all Victorians in jeopardy can expect to be held accountable and fined,' a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.
Officers will be out in force over the weekend with a highly visible police presence across Melbourne's CBD, roads and public transport network.
'Victoria Police is confident the overwhelming majority of Victorians will be doing the right thing and adhere to these restrictions so we can all return to normality as soon as possible,' the spokeswoman said.
At present, there are only five reasons for Victorians to leave home, with a strong need to avoid public gatherings.
Sources have told Daily Mail Australia detectives have already been in contact with protest organisers in the hope they cancel the planned event.
Meanwhile, Melbourne Freedom Rally protesters have told people planning to break lockdown to stay tuned for news via the Telegram app.
Angry Melburnians have again hit the streets after learning they would be locked down again. They have now spent six months caged at home
September 2020: Victoria police hit the beaches arresting people breaking lockdown laws
Anti-lockdown protests plagued Melbourne during its long second lockdown. More protests are expected as Melburnians are locked upo yet again
From there, organisers can rapidly spread the location in the hope of swamping it before police can lockdown the area.
It is a tactic that has had mixed results, with police officers well placed within the groups to receive the updates.
During Victoria's second deadly wave, which leaked from the Victorian Government's bungled hotel quarantine scheme, police greeted protesters in full riot gear.
Protesters were often picked up at Flinders Street Station before they even made their way to the planned meeting point.
It was less than a week ago when protesters caused chaos on the streets of Melbourne just hours before the city entered its fifth lockdown.
Protesters quickly filled Melbourne’s CBD, marching from Flinders Street Station to Parliament House chanting 'freedom'.
Scores of police flocked to the area as a flare was set off among the crowd, however no arrests were made on the night.
Angry protesters, many of whom refused to wear a mask, wielded signs demanding an end to the lockdowns and the removal of Premier Daniel Andrews.
Just hours earlier, Mr Andrews had announced the state would enter a five-day 'snap lockdown' from midnight.
'We’ve got to do this, otherwise it will get away with us and we, as more than any other part of our nation know, we don’t want this getting away from us and being locked down for months,' Mr Andrews said at the time.
'We want to deal with this with a short, sharp, lockdown, decisive action, not waiting, not dawdling, now is our time.'
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews returned from a back injury and immediately placed Victorians back into lockdown
Victoria Police stand guard outside the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne last year as anti mask protesters promised to hold a rally
A man who turned up to the planned protest was quickly snapped-up by waiting police
August 9, 2020: A man leaves after being questioned by police during an anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne
That lockdown was quickly extended, with Victoria on Thursday recording its highest daily rise in Covid cases since September 18 when the state was hit by a deadly second wave.
Protesters are expecting a bumper turnout to Saturday's planned action, with fed-up Victorians expressing increased outrage this week compared to the state's previous two lockdowns in February and May.
'It would be good to see huge numbers of people spilled out on the major roads chanting cries for freedom,' one man wrote on social media.
'WE ARE ON HOUSE ARREST FOR GODS SAKE! For something that has only killed a 90 year old this whole year! (People aren’t dying of old age anymore),' protest organisers stated this week.
'It’s YOUR CHOICE. You’re either going to submit and contribute to the enslavement of humanity and our future generations OR stand up and end it right now.'
Victoria Police detain a protester at Flagstaff Gardens in Melbourne in May
Lockdown protests heated up again in May after the fourth lockdown was announced
Police detain a protester at Flagstaff Gardens in Melbourne in May
