Five people have been arrested after student protesters clashed with police in chaotic scenes in Melbourne’s CBD on Wednesday afternoon.
The protesters, who had earlier swamped Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey as he tried to enter the back of State Parliament, were rallying against proposed federal funding cuts to the education budget.
Mr Hockey’s security team and police held back the crowd.
‘‘They must have thought I was a Labor politician because it was the Labor party that cut university funding,’’ he later told reporters.
A police officer was taken to hospital after being allegedly punched in the face, a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.
Police say five protesters were arrested after officers were pelted with shoes and chalk. Other protesters burned items in the street.
‘‘Police attended to ensure the safety of all involved, and provided an escort to persons entering and exiting the building,’’ a police spokeswoman said.
It is alleged several police were assaulted during the protest. The officer who was punched in the face is receiving treatment in hospital for minor facial injuries.
Three men and two women are in custody and are assisting police with their inquiries, the spokeswoman said.
She said the investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
The protesters first gathered en masse on the steps of State Parliament before staging a sit-in at the corner of Spring and Bourke streets around 12.30pm.
Traffic – both tram and road – was at a standstill while a heavy police presence encircled the protesters.
3AW reporter Sam McClure said things turned ugly when police moved in to remove the protesters and many resisted.
“One police officer has been knocked to the ground and two protesters have been arrested,” he said.
“There have also been multiple near-accidents between protesters and cars.
“I’m not sure police were prepared for the group to have a massive sit down in one of the biggest intersections of the City.”
Police said the protesters, who had stopped at several sites including Parliament House, the State Library, a political party headquarters in Exhibition Street ending at RMIT University, had now left and they would continue to monitor the situation.
The investigation into the incident remains ongoing, police said.
But one of the rally organisers, Sarah Garnham, says students were peaceful and it was the police who were violent.
She said two people were initially arrested – and one of them was unconscious at the time.
‘‘The first I saw of her she is being dragged out, not resisting at all,’’ Ms Garnham said.
‘‘No one in the protest was violent. There was absolutely no violence whatsoever apart from the Victorian police who moved in on us.’’
She said protesters tried to attend a police station to make a brutality complaint, but police wouldn’t let them go inside.
More members of the protest group were then arrested, she said.The protest site has been cleared but is still being watched by officers.
