News & Events Vegan protests shut down Melbourne's CBD - Have protests gone too far?

[Jobe Watson]

These loons take their kids with them to these protests too... no doubt to increase their victimhood status when the police ultimately drag them away for being a public nuisance. Absolute losers.

 

[Bigjobss]

The protests have motivated me, I've moved a few things around and will be taking a 4 day weekend to go deer hunting.
I've got about 50kg of venison and duck already in the freezer but what the hell I have a spare freezer I can turn on.

 

[perthblue]

Not really into their cause but I don't have a problem with the way they protested.

 

[Perth gal]

I don’t mind them protesting but taking food from their hands in a restaurant is a bit much. But honestly I’m thinking of going vegetarian. I think the way we treat animals in this country leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[raskolnikov]

I tried veganism a few years back. I lasted a few days before I was ready to Kill somebody.

 

[kickazz]

Not really into their cause but I don't have a problem with the way they protested.

Same here, though it seems they didn't inform police first, which you are supposed to do. Caused issues with ambulances etc that could have been planned for.

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

Protests like this mornings don't achive anything these days other and pissing a lot of people off. Not exactly useful in forwarding your cause.

 

[Messenger]

I don’t agree with their views but they certainly got everyone’s attention, which was the point all along.

 

[Doc_]

Nutjobs.

 

[TJASTA]

Well, at lease these people are not breaking into people properties. That's a start I guess.

 

[JackOutback]

Same here, though it seems they didn't inform police first, which you are supposed to do. Caused issues with ambulances etc that could have been planned for.

The idea that you need to inform police, get a licence etc to protest is ******* bonkers.

 

[Gralin]

I think people should be able to protest and as much as I don't like union's they get a permit when they march and disruption is kept to a minimum. But where we get it wrong is this protest and the people protesting against right wing nut jobs like Milo. Milo isn't responsible for police costs and disruption the protesters are. Give them a week in prison and a $1000 fine, if there is no personal responsibility, and no consequences this will keep happening.

Translation I'm happy for people to protest unless it's against something I like, then they should go to jail

Regular people need to start knocking them out if they get in their way. That's why they do it because they know nothing will happen to them. As soon as the general population start striking back they'd disappear quickly.

If any came into a restaurant I was eating in and started their s**t id be physically throwing them out.

So non violent protestors should be beaten up so they learn not to protest?

I hope all of their clothing was responsibly sourced not containing any animal matter in them at all

The funny thing is a lot things that vegans do to be vegan are as bad or worse for the environment. Some of the replacement foods have ridiculous carbon footprints, some of the replacement products the same.

I don't expect someone complaining about global warming to live in a tent or an Aboriginal person to throw out their glasses and medicine before they comment on racism and discrimination.

Yeah but if your philosophy is don't use any animal products and you're wearing leather shoes you're full of s**t

 

[Gralin]

The idea that you need to inform police, get a licence etc to protest is ******* bonkers.

Yes and no.
Police can protect them from others who get violent.

They can also make sure emergency vehicles can still get through or have a plan to reroute them.

 

[JackOutback]

Yes and no.
Police can protect them from others who get violent.

They can also make sure emergency vehicles can still get through or have a plan to reroute them.

It makes sense to a point but it’s largely about making it difficult for people to exercise their democratic right to protest. Keeping the plebs in check.

 

[Norwegian Blue]

Yeah but if your philosophy is don't use any animal products and you're wearing leather shoes you're full of s**t

Bizarrely, you can actually buy vegan leather shoes. A mate's brother is full on animal rights; he gets his shoes from some approved place in the UK. I think they raise the cows until they die naturally and then use them. It costs him bucketloads of cash but he can afford it.

 

[Gralin]

It makes sense to a point but it’s largely about making it difficult for people to exercise their democratic right to protest. Keeping the plebs in check.

Sure, that's why I said yes and no.

Bizarrely, you can actually buy vegan leather shoes. A mate's brother is full on animal rights; he gets his shoes from some approved place in the UK. I think they raise the cows until they die naturally and then use them. It costs him bucketloads of cash but he can afford it.

Half of them would kick him out of the club for that. Most vegan leather is faux leather or pleather

Vegan just sounds cooler now apparently

Aka it's made from oil products and is ******* terrible for the environment which last I checked was also bad for animals

 

[00Stinger]

 

[Socrates2]

So, at 5:30 this morning a number of Vegan protesters ran onto the Flinders Swanston intersection, keeping it shut by chaining themselves to vans for 4 hours.
View attachment 650423
This ended up throwing people's days (including mine) into Chaos. As trams and replacement busses were cancelled to facilitate the protesters. Whilst I myself agree with veganism as an idea and am a vegetarian, this is completely ridiculous. Disrupting peoples lives, forcing them to watch videos of animals being slaughtered. It isn't going to do anything except piss people off. This protest comes after a spate of other smaller protests involving vegans walking around the CBD showing people videos of animals being killed.
View attachment 650440
This sort of thing is disgusting. People should be allowed to make choices about their lives without being exposed to those horrifying videos. (There were also less disruptive marches in other Australian cities.) This latest protest has managed to piss off everyone I've talked to who was caught up in it and has had the opposite effect the organisers hoped for. The protest was partially to promote a documentary about veganism. At 9 the protesters were forcibly moved on by police, as they were arrested, their cans were towed and they were cut from the chains. Whilst this protest was peaceful (kind of) there have been a number recently where shops have been destroyed, people eating out have had their food taken from them by vegan "activists"
View attachment 650441

It'll be interesting to see the fallout from this protest as it emerges over the next few days.


What are your opinions on protests such as these? Have they gone too far? Have we lost the ability to not be exposed to this kind of stuff (videos like the ones the protesters were showing this morning) in our day to day lives? Where does this cross the line from activism to extremism? Has it already?


​

You say they shouldn't be allowed to show these horrible videos ,but they show the truth about the agricultural industy.If these issues were addressed by politicians and the media, then protests like this would not be needed. You were inconvenienced along with a few thousand people, but you suggest this inconvenience is more important than animals dying in pain.It's a good example of priorities in society today which is make as much money as you can even if your using animals or destroying the environment.

 

[Socrates2]

You can't stop people eating meat but you can show some respect to the animals by letting them have access to grass and a humane death.At the moment they all line up together and get slaughtered one by one with the waiting cows in absolute panic.It can be done a lot better.It should be mandatory for year 10 students to visit an abbatoir. This modern disconnection from food sources makes it easy for slaughterers to do everything as cheap as possible without any consequences.

 

[Yidaki]

These idiots are spitting on the memories of our ancient ancestors who had to hunt and gather just to survive. The fools don't realise that we wouldn't be where we are without the consumption of animal products. It's just a feel good movement based off emotion rather than logic. Logically we can improve the meat industry by making it more sustainable. But nah, they bypass that (probably due to lack of B12) and want the whole meat industry shut down. Vegans are funny. You can only get B12 through supplementation if you are vegan. Doesn't that tell you that it isn't the right way to eat? B12 is one of the most important vitamins in our body. It has a key role in maintaining a healthy nervous system including the brain.

I'm sure all these vegan activists are comfortable using their environmentally destructive smart phones to promote their message? These smart phones require minerals which means deforestation which means death to numerous animals. But nah, it's cool. We will just post our vegan soldier stories on instagram to see who can look the best at being a vegan solider.

 

[Socrates2]

These idiots are spitting on the memories of our ancient ancestors who had to hunt and gather just to survive. The fools don't realise that we wouldn't be where we are without the consumption of animal products. It's just a feel good movement based off emotion rather than logic. Logically we can improve the meat industry by making it more sustainable. But nah, they bypass that (probably due to lack of B12) and want the whole meat industry shut down. Vegans are funny. You can only get B12 through supplementation if you are vegan. Doesn't that tell you that it isn't the right way to eat? B12 is one of the most important vitamins in our body. It has a key role in maintaining a healthy nervous system including the brain.

I'm sure all these vegan activists are comfortable using their environmentally destructive smart phones to promote their message?

Yes but the industry needs a clean up, there's no need for suffering they endure unnecessarily.

 

[Yidaki]

Yes but the industry needs a clean up, there's no need for suffering they endure unnecessarily.

I agree. That is why I purchase organic meats where I know the animal has been treated humanely. Might be hard to make the industry more sustainable whilst at the same time cheap for the consumer though.

 

[Socrates2]

The Vegans are the goid guys, I guarantee they are responsible for less carbon emmissions than meat eaters.Its a bit like people bagging cyclists, what do you want , all the cyclists to drive a car instead and clog up the roads more?

 

[kickazz]

The idea that you need to inform police, get a licence etc to protest is ******* bonkers.

Why? Any time there is a large gathering of people for whatever reason, things can go awry and appropriate risk mitigation, including police presence is a sensible move.

 

[Restricted Free Agent]

You say they shouldn't be allowed to show these horrible videos ,but they show the truth about the agricultural industy.If these issues were addressed by politicians and the media, then protests like this would not be needed. You were inconvenienced along with a few thousand people, but you suggest this inconvenience is more important than animals dying in pain.It's a good example of priorities in society today which is make as much money as you can even if your using animals or destroying the environment.

I myself am a vegetarian and have seen and get highly distressed by those videos. I think that people should be able to chose what they're exposed to regarding videos like this.