Footage from inside wild protests that rocked Melbourne CBD

Footage has emerged from the heart of wild protest violence on Melbourne streets, which has been blasted by one of Victoria’s top cops and Premier Jacinta Allan.

The confrontational scenes played out in the city centre on Sunday, as tensions flared with anti-immigration March for Australia rallies across the country being met with counter protests, though hostilities escalated worst in the Victorian capital.

Police say two officers were hospitalised, and the counter-protest organisers say at least four from their side also needed hospitalisation.

The footage captured by a NewsWire photographer shows him being hit with capsicum spray as he followed police orders to retreat from a skirmish around a man being arrested.

First person footage inside Sunday’s protests show violent clashes between police and protesters

The point-of-view footage shows police officers flinching as one of their own flash bangs explodes, as officers are pushed back to the neutral zone set up to separate the opposing protest groups.

Another segment shows two officers and two protesters wrestling in the gutter on the street, as various officers and protesters try to grab and push each other out of the way. At one point, a female officer yanks an entangled female protester by her hair, before one of the officers on the ground sprays her with capsicum spray from point-blank range.

In another clip, a protester has been subdued and is face down on a drain grate, as about 10 officers ward the protesters backward and away with the capsicum spray. Some small projectile appears to fly across at the police, when the officers fire off the OC spray en masse, dousing the NewsWire photographer.

In an update on Monday, a Victoria Police spokesperson said two injured officers had been discharged from hospital and would be off work for a “few weeks”.

“Instead of working on the frontline to prevent crime and keep their local communities safe, they will be recovering after having glass bottles deliberately thrown at them,” the spokesperson said.

A female sergeant from Boroondara, aged in her 40s, received a serious hand injury. A male senior constable from Corio, aged in his 30s, received a serious laceration to his leg; the force shared a picture of the male officer’s injury.

Police now estimate 2000 members of the public were at the protest.

A 30-year-old woman from Brunswick has been charged with resisting police. She received bail and was scheduled to front court in May.

Police expect to update the public in the coming days and put out calls to identify persons of interest.

Speaking on Monday, Ms Allan said some protesters were at the scene to cause violence.

“What was clear yesterday was, for some, they chose to come and bring violence to the streets,” the Premier said.

“It was unacceptable what we saw that was perpetrated on the men and women of Victoria Police, who were there to keep the community safe.

“It is my expectation that the full force of the law will be brought to those who perpetrated this violence, who subsequently been identified and are being investigated by Victoria Police.”

Victoria has no protest permit scheme such as that in NSW, but police were given special powers for Sunday to force anyone wearing a face covering to leave the area, and extended stop, frisk and search powers.

Ms Allan was forced to defend comments she made leading up to the protest, in which she said the CBD was safe.

“Melbourne’s CBD is safe. And I think it would be wrong and misleading to conflate the behaviour of a very small number of people yesterday who came to the city to bring violence - and they were dealt with swiftly by Victoria police - with the incredible number and growing number of people who come in and out of the city every day,” Ms Allan said.

Cops, counter-protesters speak out

In a statement posted to social media, Campaign Against Fascism organiser Yasmin described the police response as violent and the March for Australia demonstration as hateful.

“It is not peaceful to organise a rally calling for Black and Brown people to not be allowed in this country,” Yasmin said.

“Police deployed violence which has injured activists.

“We’re proud that so many people came out today to stand against the politics of racism and fascism.”

The counter-protest has been blasted by one of the state’s top cops, who said those who “came to pick a fight with the police” were “issue-motivated groups on the left”.

Police Commander Wayne Cheesman, who oversees the North West Metro region, dumped a box of rocks onto the floor at a press conference on Sunday afternoon, saying the objects were hurled at police.

Police only used force when required, he said, and made clear the level of disruption was unacceptable.

“This is what was thrown at police today and I think Melbourne has had a gutful … really enough’s enough,” Cheesman said.

He said the disruption to Melbourne, the general public and businesses “has to stop”.

Footage from the protest shows riot squad officers blasting people with capsicum spray, wrestling with protesters, and flash bangs exploding.

Victoria Police confirmed two officers were assaulted, one with a suspected broken hand and another with a cut to the leg, and that police riot shields were cracked by projectiles. Rocks, glass bottles, and fruit were thrown at officers, police say.

Commander Cheesman described the violence as deliberate and targeted.

“These rocks were cracking some of those shields today. So they’ve been thrown with force, with a view, to harm our members.

“They come, they’re cowards, face coverings, masks, hoodies, hiding behind each other, pulling rocks from their bags and throwing them as hard as they can,” he said.

Cheesman said the clashes were caused by a small but violent group among the crowd.

“There were probably 800 to 1,000 people on each side today. The truth is, there’s probably 40 to 50 hardcore protesters who were trying to harm the police. The others are standing with them and not intervening, which is unacceptable.”

He praised the March for Australia group as peaceful.

“They were peaceful, they were engaging, they listened to our instructions, they did what they were told, and they protested by example.

“The people that came to pick the fight with police were the issue-motivated groups on the left.”

The counter protesters criticise the police’s praise of the March for Australia group.

“Police denied thousands the right to protest, while facilitating the racist, hateful demonstration March for Australia, exercising white sovereignty to defend a white Australia ideology,” organiser Yasmin said.

“We condemn the violent acts of Victoria Police.

“We are appalled by the comments of police commander Wayne Cheesman who praised the far right hate march.”

Cheeseman also emphasised the strain on Victoria Police resources.

“We had to deploy hundreds of police, not only today, but the man hours and weeks of planning, preparation, engagement with these people … the impact on Victoria Police resources at a time when we should be having police on the front line, looking at community safety, it appalled me,” he said.

“Today was a bad day for Victoria Police. I think it was a bad day for Melbourne. We really need to find an answer of what we do.“Our police should be out on the street. They shouldn’t be here today, dealing with people who are trying to harm us and trying to, I guess, court disruption to this great city.”

Cheeseman confirmed that one man had been arrested and that further arrests were likely.

“Every time we have a major demonstration with this criminality, they get allocated to local detectives from Melbourne CIU. They follow it up, and we’ve had a lot of success in the past, so yes, I’m anticipating more arrests,” he said.

Anti-immigration rallies, counter-protests sweep nation

In Brisbane, federal MP Bob Katter was spotted among the anti-immigration rally.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Katter criticised Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke for providing temporary humanitarian visas for Palestinians.

In the streets of the Queensland capital, chants of “You can shove your Palestine up your hole” were answered with: “Nazi scum off our streets.”

In Sydney, organisers instructed the crowd to avoid engaging with counter-protesters as they left Hyde Park on Sunday afternoon.

Participants at the rallies waved Australian flags, including the red ensign, and some carried Aboriginal or Eureka Stockade/Southern Cross flags. One woman

held a sign stating: “Quality immigration, not quantity.”

Sunday’s Sydney protest began to the sound of The Angels song Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again, complete with the usual adlib: “No way, get f---ed, f--k off.”

The Melbourne counter-protest included signs reading “Blame capitalism, not migrants” and “Queer, straight, black, white, unite to stop the far right.”

The march was led by First Nations people starting at Camp Sovereignty.

The second national March for Australia events come amid confusion over immigration statistics.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics publishes two different measurements of net migration, showing divergent trends.

Monthly arrivals data is based on a traveller’s self-declaration of the length of their stay, rather than changes in residency status; a temporary migrant who takes three overseas trips in one year would be counted as three arrivals.

For a person to be counted in net overseas migration, they have to be in Australia for 12 months over a 16-month period.

The latest official net overseas migration data, for the year to March, shows a three-year low of 315,000.

Over the last decade, annual net overseas migration was between 181,900 higher and 70,400 lower than the monthly arrivals figure, an Australian Financial Review analysis found.

The first March for Australia event, in August, drew thousands of attendees and received widespread criticism for its far-right links.