Picture Herald Sun
This heading says it all.
This is the only reasonable explanation for the wanton danger Police are placed in by the Governments and Police Administrations.
Shocking photos emerged today, the 10th of February 2026, in the Herald Sun, of the violent clash between police and demonstrators in New South Wales.
Whilst the reports indicate that the Victorian demonstrations were less violent, it was nevertheless clear that they infringed Victorians’ rights by blocking access to infrastructure and impeding free movement throughout the city.
The police seemed powerless to address such a large number.
But the major issue is why police administrations and Governments continue to fail to provide the necessary legislation, supported by the Courts, and the equipment for Police to effectively control crowds, irrespective of the crowd’s collective cause.
We are sick and tired of watching reports of Police being pummelled with many ending up in hospital as a result of criminal elements attending these demonstrations.
Politicians and Police administrations wringing their hands and talking tough do not heal Police bruises or mend broken bones.
Let’s hope our advocacy yields results before a member does not return to their family after a demonstration.
The CAA has long advocated the introduction of Water Cannons to take the load and minimise the risk to police who are there doing their job for all citizens.
These vehicles are used effectively not only to dampen demonstrators’ enthusiasm but also to move them on, where required, with minimal risk to police on foot.
It is very disappointing that the Police Associations in Australia have remained largely silent, at least publicly, on the dangers their members face.
In any other sector of a workplace where the safety of the workers was not paramount, and the dangers were not mitigated, there would be ‘hell to pay’, with immediate industrial action and a string of cases before WorkCover.
In this case, Police lodging WorkCover claims would clog the system for years.
The provision of suitable water cannons, which should be capable of being built in Australia, supporting local manufacturing, with the already-proven Bushmaster modified for crowd-control use, would fit the bill.
The key to using these smaller, highly manoeuvrable, and robust vehicles, rather than the larger-capacity vehicles used overseas, is to operate them in tandem so one can be refilled while the other continues to respond.
The presence of two of these vehicles near gatherings would be an effective and cheap deterrent, as the number of police deployed could be substantially reduced.
Many people who appear in media reports would respond positively to the sight of these vehicles in the vicinity and avoid a confrontation.
Prevention is the ultimate Policing weapon.
But we are still at a loss as to who is blocking the equipping of the Police and continually causing Police to be put into danger.
Those responsible should stand alongside the Police at the next demonstration and be exposed to the challenges the Police must continually contend with.
Australia used to have this equipment, and speaking with a former head of an interstate Police Force, who disposed of their Water Cannon and did so on the basis that they were maintaining kit that was never used.
Perhaps because they had the kit, the deterrent effect did the job, preventing police officers from becoming victims of violence.
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Regarding Water Cannons: Maybe it’s about the money – and maybe that is short-sighted. As a guess, two water cannons plus their associated infrastructure and staffing would run close to $1M…….but just one Workcover claim could do that also. Then there is also the probability that scandalous and biased media would focus predominantly on the militaristic appearance of the cannon, and on its direct effect. That would discourage some potential protestors, provoke some radical protestor “heroes”, and draw negative political comments or attacks. Given that the Victorian Budget is already in very serious trouble and that our Government has repeatedly demonstrated only token and ineffective responses to community behaviour problems, Police and VicPol-Workcover can expect to continue to pay the price for a long time yet.
When it comes to the anti-Israel marches the unfortunate reality is that our governments don’t really want police to be able to do their job effectively and safely. Whether it be because the political class shares the same ideology as the protestors, or are afraid to risk losing the now substantial Muslim vote in our larget cities, it is clear that despite the rhetoric there really is no political will to reign it in.
I have no doubt that if there had been disruptive “far right” protests week after week for the last two years governments would have stumped up and provided funding for water canons and any other equipment police needed.
This unfortunately is the current state of our politics that is dominated by ideology and not public safety and justice. Until people stop voting for the major parties we will never get out from under the rock that’s been dumped on top of us. In fact we’ll have more rocks dropped on us.