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Climate change protesters have sparked a tense stand-off with police after they played dead on the streets of Melbourne’s city centre.
Members of Extinction Rebellion caused a second consecutive morning of mayhem in the rain-soaked CBD on Wednesday.
Activists marched up Bourke Street before police moved in and forced the group onto the footpath.
Officers cordoned off the group, which moved to the front of the State Library Victoria, where more than a dozen protesters spread out across the footpath, pretending to be dead.
The defiant activists were surrounded by almost as many police officers.
Climate change activists in Melbourne spread out across the footpath and pretended to play dead on Wednesday
Live-streamed footage had previously shown activists claiming police had violated their right to protest.
“It seems our democratic right to protest has once again not been upheld by Victoria Police, despite the climate and ecological emergency,” one woman said into a microphone.
‘We are non-violent protesters – we would never resort to violence because we are creating the world we want to see.’
At least one arrest was made Wednesday after a woman allegedly refused to move off the road near the intersection of Latrobe and Russell streets.
The Northcote woman, 61, has since been released with a view to summons at a later date.
‘We respect the right of individuals to protest peacefully, but we will not tolerate those who deliberately block roads or major traffic arteries and not only disrupt community life and affect our economy, but also our emergency services who must respond to emergency incidents,’ a police spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.
Activists declared Wednesday’s protests the first official day of the Rebel for Life!
More than a dozen activists laid down on the footpath in protest after being forced off the road
“This is the second of four early morning slow marches we will be holding,” Extinction Rebellion wrote online.
‘Sorry commuters! We know this is disruptive, but we’re trying to prevent the far, far greater disruption that will come if we don’t act now.
“Our government needs to declare a climate emergency.”
The latest protest comes a day after activists brought traffic to a standstill in the CBD, causing massive chaos for thousands of frustrated commuters trying to get to work.
The protests are part of a planned period of disruptive action calling for federal and state governments to declare a climate emergency.
Protests are planned every morning for the rest of the week until Saturday, when an act of ‘mass civil disobedience’ is planned to be held near the Flinders Street Station junction.
A heavy police presence forced protesters off the roads and onto the footpath on Wednesday
Victorian Police Commissioner Shane Patton has renewed calls for officers to have extra powers to deal with unauthorized protests.
He told Seven News that 7,000 officers have been pulled from general duties to patrol more than 300 rallies solely in relation to the Middle East conflict since October.
‘Do I want them tied to it? Can I use them better than participating in public order protests? Absolutely,’ said the commissioner.
“That’s why we’re looking across Australia and seeing what the jurisdictions have so we can go back to the government and talk to them.”
The latest climate change protests come a week after a truck blockade on the West Gate Bridge caused major traffic delays and forced a young mother on her way to hospital to give birth on the side of the highway.
Three protesters were arrested and charged.
Deanna ‘Violet’ Coco, 33, from NSW and Bradley Homewood, 51, from Williamstown are currently serving 21-day sentences behind bars, while Joseph Zammit is due to face court in April.