Thousands of anti-lockdown protesters have taken to the streets of Melbourne defying stay at home orders and a shutdown of the construction sector

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Melbourne to protest against a shutdown of the construction sector in the Australian state of Victoria.

Protesters defied public health directions imposed by the Victorian Government’s COVID-19 restrictions.

Aerial vision has captured a steady stream of construction workers in high-vis sprawling across the busy freeway on the outskirts of the CBD in Docklands.

The workers were seen weaving in and out of large trucks and traffic, ignoring the honking of horns, while chanting “f— the jab”, lighting flares and flying Donald Trump 2020 and CFMEU flags.

By mid-afternoon protesters took to a busy Melbourne freeway to disrupt traffic, seeing thousands of vehicles suddenly at a standstill

Police moved in by the busload as protesters moved back down towards the CBD approximately two hours after the demonstrators took to the West Gate Bridge.

Some protesters were also seen climbing on top of a halted truck. VicRoads, the state’s governing road management authority, earlier urged drivers to “exit the freeway as soon as possible”.

The protests in Melbourne’s CBD earlier turned violent with some angry demonstrators throwing bottles and objects at police.

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