Melbourne protest: 7NEWS reporter Teegan Dolling assaulted live on air as anti-war protest turns ugly

A 7NEWS reporter has been assaulted during a live TV cross after anti-war protesters in Melbourne swarmed her while she was on air.

Teegan Dolling was on the ground to cover the protest — which has attracted about 25,000 protesters and a massive response from police — and was talking to Sunrise hosts Nat Barr and Matt Shirvington when she was targeted in the frightening confrontation.

Chaos gripped the streets of Melbourne on Wednesday morning as people gathered to protest the Land Forces International Land Defence Exposition, which will host senior international military, defence, government, scientific and industry delegations from around the world.

Bricks, rocks and other projectiles were thrown at mounted police and their horses and faeces were thrown at police officers as the protest turned violent.

Dolling was standing close to mounted police and other officers, trying to make herself heard as a protester used a megaphone to chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” when she was surrounded.

Four protesters wearing masks surrounded her, pushing her and making rude hand gestures to the camera.

One woman with a keffiyeh around her shoulders covered the camera lens with her hand before Dolling tried to push her away.

Dolling eventually had to throw back to the studio in order to extricate herself from the escalating situation.

A visibly concerned Barr then called out the protesters’ behaviour.

“It’s not on if people are mishandling our reporter. Are you OK, Teegan?”

A few minutes later, they returned to a shaken Dolling.

Shirvington asked, “We just saw there things gettting a little bit uncomfortable for you a little bit violent. Do you feel like that’s going to continue to escalate there?”

Dolling replied: “These people have messages they want to spread and yet they are not willing to get that message across properly, but you can see it is just such a fluid scene at the moment.”

Dozens of police created a barricade outside the convention centre to make way for attendees to enter, with protesters flanking either side.

Activists threw water and eggs and yelled “war pigs” or “get a real job” at the attendees as they walked along Yarra Promenade to enter the expo.

“Shame on you, how does it feel to murder babies,” one group of protesters yelled in unison.

Some protesters fought with police, with one officer left with a bleeding face, while a cameraman was hit with pepper spray.

Police Minister Anthony Carbines thanked officers for their support as he issued a warning to protesters who may be turning violent.

“There’s nothing but disrespect being shown from some protesters who want to behave like idiots and police will deal with you,” he told reporters at state parliament.

Opposition police spokesman Brad Battin said he was concerned for the safety of officers.

“We’ve seen these kind of protests get out of hand when violence happens in the street,” he told reporters.

“We must stand by the public servants, those that serve and protect us, being the Victoria Police, it is our role and our responsibility to be their voice and to ensure they’re protected and can go home safe.”

Disrupt Land Forces spokeswoman Jasmine Duff said the protest was triggered by the government’s stance on the conflict in the Middle East.

“We’re protesting to stand up for all those who have been killed by the type of weapons on display at the convention,” she said.

“Many of the weapons inside the convention centre are advertised as battle-tested. In the context of Israeli weapons firms, which are present, this means tested through killing civilians in Gaza.”

— with AAP