Key Points
- Pro-Palestinian protesters climbed onto the roof of Parliament House earlier this morning.
- They unfurled banners accusing Australia of complicity in “war crimes” and “genocide”.
- They have since left the building and ACT Policing has said three men and one woman had been arrested.
Police have arrested four people after a pro-Palestinian demonstration on the roof of Parliament House in Canberra.
Protesters climbed onto the roof of Parliament House to unfurl banners accusing Australia of complicity in “war crimes” and “genocide”.
In a statement, an ACT Policing spokesperson said three men and one woman had been arrested and were expected to be charged with trespass offences.
The spokesperson said those arrested had also been issued with 24-month bans from Parliament House.
At least four people from the group Renegade Activists ascended the building on Thursday, as police, media and supporters watched from below.
“We declare to the Australian government, we will continue to unmask and resist the US imperial, hegemonic and capitalist interests you devote yourself to,” one protester yelled from the rooftop.
“Australia continues to enable and commit war crimes as lackeys to our powerful friends.”
One of the banners read: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The , who claim it supports a one-state solution under which Israel wouldn’t exist.
But it has also been used by pro-Palestinian protesters and — who controversially used the phrase to defy the prime minister — to call for justice and freedom in occupied territories while still supporting a two-state solution.
Payman was suspended from the Labor caucus to support a Greens motion on Palestinian statehood and vowed to do so again in the same circumstances.
She has described feeling isolated from her fellow party members, raising questions over her future political career.
Jacob, a representative from the activist group, praised Payman.
“She’s doing what she has been employed to do and that is represent the best interests and the aspirations of her constituents,” he told the Australian Associated Press.
Opposition home affairs spokesperson James Paterson called for an investigation into how the protesters managed to climb onto the roof of parliament.
“This is [a] serious breach of the parliament’s security. The building was modified at great expense to prevent incursions like this,” he wrote on social media platform X.
