Brisbane, (Samajweekly) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s car was vandalised by a group of refugee rights activists during his visit to to the University of Queensland here on Monday.
Amid Morrison’s visit, some 50 protesters gathered at the university’s Australian Institute of Bio-engineering and Nanotechnology, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said in a news report.
The protesters threw red paint on the glass doors and windows of both entrances to the building and also on the car which Morrison had been travelling in.
According to the ABC News report, the Prime Minister was escorted out through a loading bay, shortly after the building went into lockdown.
After Morrison’s exit, the protesters, some who wore masks and held signs that read “free the refugees” and “indefinite detention is torture”, also left the site.
Speaking to the ABC, Senior Sergeant Leonie Scott said the protesters “wilfully damaged the site of the building by throwing paint, tomatoes and other fruit items”, adding that one woman was arrested.
Meanwhile, Morrison said he was disappointed to see the protest taking place when he was visiting the campus to observe the development of a Covid-19 vaccine.
The ABC report said the activists were protesting against the indefinite detention of 120 men inside the Kangaroo Point Central Hotel and Apartments accommodation facility who were moved there from offshore detention.
