EDITORIAL: Violent ‘anti-war’ protesters show rank hypocrisy

If their objective was to win people to their cause, the mission was an abject failure.

The actions of the 1500 or so cerebrally-challenged crusaders who brought chaos and disorder to Melbourne’s CBD on Wednesday morning served only to further alienate their movement from the Australian mainstream.

Ostensibly, they were there objecting to the presence of the Land Forces military expo at the city’s convention centre at Southbank.

In reality, they were there to wreak as much havoc as they could, in the name of whichever one of a mish-mash of leftist causes they could latch on to.

The usual overly idealistic and underemployed suspects were all there: eco-activists Extinction Rebellion, Students for Palestine and the Socialist Alliance, among others.

For supposed anti-war protesters, they had no problem with violence.

These vandals and thugs hurled rocks and manure at police and sprayed what has been described as “acid” at officers. Not even police horses were spared. Witnesses described protesters grabbing the bridles of horses and throwing projectiles at them as police worked to restore order.

It was stupidity and selfishness of the most odious and dangerous kind.

Police responded with batons, teargas and stun grenades.

Thirty-nine people were arrested, for offences including assaulting police, obstructing police, hindering police, arson, assault and blocking roadways.

Twenty-four police officers received medical attention.

No doubt many among the crush are now congratulating themselves. They were there to “disrupt”, and disrupt they did.

But what have they really accomplished? When right-thinking Australians watched the images of one of our major cities grinding to a halt because of the idiotic actions of a handful of witless fools, few would have sympathised with their agenda.

The Land Forces expo — a biennial event which is closed to the public — will continue inside the convention centre as planned.

What many of these chaos merchants fail to appreciate is that the weapons and technology on display inside — what they call the tools of “genocide” — are in reality helping to maintain order in an increasingly dangerous and uncertain world.

Australia and its allies pulling out of defence development and the weapons trade — which is what these rabble rousers want — would make the world a far less safe place.

It certainly won’t dissuade our enemies, despots who are emboldened by weakness in others, from building up their own military capability.

The threat of deterrence is our world’s key defence against the spread of tyranny.

Also lost on them is that it is in part through our defence forces’ actions in fighting against fascist and totalitarian regimes that they have the rights they do, including the right to protest — peacefully.

This was not a peaceful protest. This was violence and criminality, and will be rejected by Australians.