Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted a state Labor conference in Melbourne amid rising tensions over the war between Israel and Hamas.
Victorian Labor Party members and shop stewards will gather at Moonee Valley Racecourse on Saturday for the two-day event.
A group of pro-Palestinian protesters breached security, entered the field and could be heard singing outside the main room where the speeches were being given.
A party official told the conference that protesters had been moved and that the area was “safe and secure.”
Senator Lidia Thorpe was among those who gave speeches as the group sang “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and suggested that several Labor leaders had “blood on their hands”.
A group of pro-Palestinian protesters breached security, entered the course and could be heard singing outside the main room where the speeches were given.
Outside the event, a crowd of more than 100 pro-Palestine activists demonstrated.
A man trying to enter the conference was surrounded by activists, before police intervened and removed him from the area.
Senator Lidia Thorpe was among those who gave speeches as the group sang “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and suggested that several Labor leaders had “blood on their hands”.
Internal tensions remain high over Israel’s invasion and bombing of Gaza following the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas.
Several motions related to the conflict will be debated on Saturday afternoon, including one calling for an “end to military cooperation with Israel.”
At last year’s meeting, Victorian Labor members passed a motion for the Albanese government to recognize Palestinian statehood within this term.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister Jacinta Allan are scheduled to address the conference later on Saturday.
Days after the federal budget was passed, the prime minister is expected to tout his government’s $32 billion investment in housing.
“We are doing all this despite the opposition we have faced from the Liberals and the Greens,” Albanese will tell the party faithful.
‘Liberals have a pathological problem with affordable housing, they always have.
“And although the Greens… talk a lot about housing, the only thing they want to build is their profile.”
People attending the ALP conference are pushed and shoved as they walk during a pro-Palestine demonstration outside Mooney Valley racecourse.
The Prime Minister will accuse Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of failing to present a positive vision for the nation in his budget response speech.
“The Liberal Party is afraid of the present but terrified of the future,” he will say.
“They are stuck in the past and determined to drag the rest of Australia in there to keep them company.”
It is the party’s first state conference since Allan succeeded Daniel Andrews as premier.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister Jacinta Allan are scheduled to address the conference later on Saturday.
The Victorian Labor Party’s dominant socialist left faction is expected to lead a controversial motion to strip rank-and-file members of their right to vote for a new state leader.
In September, Right faction MP Ben Carroll threatened to challenge Allan for the leadership after Andrews resigned.
It would have forced a vote among party members, who currently have an equal say in deciding the leader when more than one MP nominates, but the situation was averted when a deal was reached for Carroll to become deputy prime minister. .
Another motion, titled “keep public land in public hands”, could focus on the government’s plan to tear down and rebuild Melbourne’s 44 tower blocks by 2051 in what has been billed as Australia’s biggest urban renewal project.
While the redevelopment plan would increase the number of residents in the estates from 10,000 to 30,000, the places reserved for social housing will only increase to 11,000.
