Thousands of protesters - including one riding a HORSE - gather on either side of the NSW-Queensland border to vent their fury over closure that stops many of them getting to work
Thousands of angry protestors have gathered at the NSW and Queensland border to rage against it being closed amid the Covid outbreak.
Up to 2,000 people, including one man on horseback, congregated at both sides of the border at about 12pm on Sunday.
About 50 police officers have been monitoring the mostly peaceful protest, however several arrests have been made.
Thousands of angry protestors have gathered at the New South Wales and Queensland border to hit back at Covid-19 lockdown restrictions
Up to 2,000 people congregated at both sides of the NSW and Queensland border at about 12pm on Sunday
Angry residents who live near the NSW side are hitting out at the travel restrictions which they say are destroying their lives and livelihood, the ABC reported.
On Boundary Street in Coolangatta, one man on horseback was heard chanting 'Cross the border. Everyone cross the border, they can't hold all of us'.
Other rally attendees yelled 'who do you work for' at police while others held signs that said 'Open the Border Now' and 'No Vaxx Passport'.
A plane flew overhead the protestors with a banner reading: 'Tweed zero cases. Why lockdown insanity?' the Courier Mail reported.
Meanwhile at Jack Evans Harbour in Tweed Heads, a blockade of protestors who outnumbered police were seen forcing the officers to retreat.
One demonstrator from West Tweed said crossing the border into Queensland was a daily occurrence for a lot of his community.
'To stop people being able to do that – particularly in the situation where there's no cases in our area – is hypocrisy,' he told the ABC.
Around 50 police officers have been monitoring the mostly peaceful protest, however multiple arrests have been made
Other rally attendees yelled 'who do you work for' at police while others held signs that said 'Open the Border Now' and 'No Vaxx Passport'
Few attendees at the protest were seen wearing masks, while others kissed and hugged in the tightly-packed crowds.
While some protestors argued there were no active cases in northern NSW, Covid-19 particles were detected in Byron Bay's sewage system on Tuesday.
The coastal town was also visited by a Covid-positive man and his two teenage children who travelled from Sydney last month.
The rally was just hours after state leaders condemned anti-lockdown demonstrations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Cairns on Saturday and NSW recorded a pandemic-record of 830 locally-acquired cases.
The protest in Melbourne started on the corner of Elizabeth and Bourke street in the CBD on Saturday morning and escalated into the afternoon despite Premier Dan Andrews saying the state is on the verge of a Covid catastrophe.
The rally continued for several hours and at times the protesters numbering more than 4,000 appeared to outnumber police, breaking through police barricades.
Crowds of protesters who were not wearing masks lit flares, held placards and chanted anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine slogans.
A plane flew overhead the protestors with a banner reading: 'Tweed zero cases. Why lockdown insanity?'
An attendee at the NSW and Queensland border rally on Sunday is seen holding a sign reading 'Plandemic'
At Boundary Street in Coolangatta, one man on horseback was heard chanting 'Cross the border. Everyone cross the border, they can't hold all of us'
By late afternoon seven officers had been injured with six hospitalised - including two with suspected broken noses, one with a broken thumb and the others with concussions - and 218 protesters arrested.
Police issued 236 fines of at least $5,452 for breaching the CHO directions, and have three people in custody for assaulting police.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said the rally as 'probably one of the most violent protests we've seen in nearly 20 years'.
The state's health minister Martin Foley Mr Foley also hit out at the 'absolutely outrageous attacks' and wished those injured a speedy recovery.
Queensland's Deputy Premier Steven Miles described Sunday's protests at the border as 'shameful and reckless'.
'We've gotten through this because Queenslanders have done the right thing, we've kept each other safe,' he said.
'That's not the kind of behaviour Queenslanders do, it's very un-Queensland like.'
The deputy premier said the border between the two states was one of the riskiest places for unwanted transmission of the virus.
'We have to see the situation in NSW the same way we’ve seen the situation in other countries throughout this pandemic,' he said.
Queensland's Deputy Premier Steven Miles described the protests at the borderline as 'shameful and reckless'
The deputy premier said the border between NSW and Queensland is one of the riskiest places right now for unwanted transmission of the virus
The large crowds congregated on both sides of the border to protest lockdown restrictions, with many attendees not wearing masks and others seen kissing and hugging
'By having a protest there, we make the jobs of our police harder, they put their own safety at risk as well as the safety of the community and I'm frankly pretty disgusted.'
One attendee of the border rallies described the public health orders as 'a disgrace' and a direct attack on his freedom and ability to move.
'It's affecting people's businesses and social lives,' he told the ABC.
'This will be the break-up of the Commonwealth of Australia, it will be the fragmentation of Australia into disparate, fighting, disputing groups and the end of democracy as we know it.'
Another woman from Pottsville in NSW said she worked across the border and had lost her source of income, making her dependent on the government.
'It's really, really distressing and we're angry — we're angry about our government,' she said.
She said a travel bubble between the two states was implemented during previous lockdowns and was the optimal solution.
Meanwhile, in the Brisbane CBD hundreds of protestors took to the city streets to bring awareness to the humanitarian crisis unravelling in Afghanistan.
A similar scene was observed in Perth's CBD, just hours after it was confirmed that more than 300 people had been evacuated from Afghanistan on four Australian flights overnight.
The Forrest Place rally in Perth saw attendees chanting 'free, free Afghanistan' and 'help the ones who helped you', after several speeches were made to the crowd.
One attendee of the border rallies described the public health orders as 'a disgrace' and a direct attack on his freedom and ability to move (pictured, police monitor the crowds)
The rally on the borderline is a latest in a suite of illegal demonstrations across the country that health authorities fear could become superspreader events
NSW recorded a pandemic-record of 830 new cases of Covid-19 overnight, with 94 fighting for life in intensive care.
The state's Deputy Police Commissioner Gary Worboys said police issued 240 penalty infringement notices in the last 24 hours across the state.
Many were related to those involved in Saturday's planned anti-lockdown protests in Sydney CBD.
About 1,500 officers were deployed on Saturday to stop protesters from marching, with police issuing 37 tickets after stopping around 38,000 cars entering the city.
The huge coordinated police presence and operation appeared to overwhelm protest efforts.