Students rally across the country
Thousands of university students have clashed with police during protests to oppose budget cuts to education as part of a national day of action.
Scuffles broke out as protesters angered by federal budget cuts clashed with police on the steps of Parliament House in Melbourne.
Protesters charged at a police line as they reached the steps of Parliament on Wednesday afternoon.
There was a short scuffle, with officers holding back the demonstrators before they returned to peacefully protesting federal budget reforms.
Protesters clash with police outside Parliament House in Victoria. Photo: 7News
After the rally broke up, a group of 20 people staged a sit-in at the intersection of Bourke and Spring Streets outside Parliament House, blocking trams and traffic.
They were ringed by dozens of uniformed and mounted police, who systematically removed the protesters one by one within an hour of the rally's end.
Demonstrators were warned twice to move along before groups of five or six police officers moved in, carrying them away from the intersection.
Among them were a few underage students, some aged 15 and 16 and dressed in private school uniforms.
A school girl is taken away by Police as students protest the Abbott Government's proposed changes to the tertiary sector in Melbourne, Wednesday, May 21, 2014. Photo: AAP
Protesters hold up a sign that says 'The Budget Smuggler'. Photo: Michael Scanlan
At least 2000 people rallied outside the State Library in the protest, which was organised by the National Union of Students and the National Tertiary Education Union.
Man carried away by police during Melbourne protest against budget cuts to education. Photo: Twitter
Many then marched along Swanston and Bourke streets to Parliament House, chanting slogans including "no cuts, no fees, no corporate universities" and "no ifs, no buts, no education cuts" as they marched.
A speaker at the rally said the protest would be the first in a series of "rallies, sit-ins and civil disobediences" as they vowed to fight the budget cuts.
SYDNEY
An activist has been arrested for picking up a flare as thousands of angry federal budget protesters brought Sydney's CBD to a standstill.
The man, aged in his 20s, was forcefully bundled to the ground by police and put in handcuffs as thousands of protesters marched from inner city Ultimo to Town Hall on Wednesday afternoon.
The man picked up a lit orange flare off the ground and held it aloft before being swarmed by about six police officers, who pushed him against a wall and handcuffed him.
Hundreds of angry protesters surrounded the group and chanted "let him go, let him go" before mounted police moved in and dispersed the crowd.
A protester is arrested as thousands of university students from the University of Sydney and UTS march through the CBD against the Abbott Government's budget measures, Sydney, Wednesday, May 21, 2014. Photo: AAP
The man was led away as protesters, mostly students from five different NSW universities, staged an impromptu sit-in at the junctions of George and Hay streets.
After about five minutes, they continued marching - surrounded by police - along George Street, bringing the CBD's main thoroughfare to a standstill.
They were protesting the federal government's budget cuts and fears that university prices will rocket under the Abbott government.
Students and their supporters had gathered earlier at the University of Technology Sydney in Ultimo, before marching through the city.
Students and lecturers gather outside the University of Technology Sydney to protest changes to education funding. Photo: 7News
The group chanted "F*** you Tony Abbott, f*** you" and waved placards reading "Pyne you shameful grub" - a reference to Education Minister Christopher Pyne.
There was a person dressed as the Grim Reaper and wearing a Christopher Pyne mask, carrying a coffin with the words "our education" emblazoned on the side.
Protesters burn a fake budget as thousands of university students from the University of Sydney and UTS march through the CBD against budget cuts to education. Photo: AAP
President of the National Union of Students Deanna Taylor said that the budget had been "cruel".
"It was a cruel, harsh, mean budget and it's going to absolutely savage higher education in Australia," she told the crowd.
"In one swoop on Tuesday, the federal government not only attacked the universal healthcare system as we know it, schools, pensioners, hospitals, they also attacked higher education and young people," Ms Taylor said.
NSW Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon has advocated, in some circumstances, for university campuses to be made no-go zones for conservative politicians.
CANBERRA
Students at Australian National University in Canberra have started banging on doors and swarming university buildings in heated protest against the Abbott government cuts, joining a flood of student protests across Australia today.
Students took to the ANU quad chanting "No cuts no fees no corporate universities” and ""Bullshit, come off it, our educations not for profit”, demanding the resignation of Vice-Chancellor Ian Young.
Students swarm the stairways of ANU in protest against budget cuts. Source: Twitter/primroseriordan
Labor Senator for the ACT Kate Lundy tweeted students protesting against ‘privatisation’ of education. Source: Kate Lundy twitter
ADELAIDE
In Adelaide about 150 protesters turned out at Flinders University to voice their opinions.
Many also took the photo opportunity with a life sized picture from Tony Abbott’s boxing days.
Protesters made use of a photo from Tony Abbot's boxing days to highlight their concerns at Flinders University. Photo: 7News
A larger number of protesters turned out in Rundle Mall for another rally this afternoon.
BRISBANE
Police were forced to intervene when Young Liberals interrupted Greens senator Larissa Waters' speech at the Brisbane protest.
Around 300 students were in attendance, with five police officers keeping watch.
Approx 300 students at Brisbane rally against university changes. Photo: Laura Dymock
Protesters then sat down in the middle of Edward Street, in Brisbane's CBD, blocking traffic in the area.
Protesters block traffic on Edward St
Earlier today, Prime Minister Tony Abbott was forced to cancel his visit to a Geelong University amid security fears.
Mr Abbott and Education Minister Christopher Pyne were due to visit a research facility at Deakin University on Wednesday, but pulled out after federal police raised concerns about their personal safety.
But it was not their welfare that forced the cancellation, rather concerns about the inconvenience it would cause police and others.
It was also about not giving the protesters what they wanted, "which is a riot on national television", Mr Abbott told Fairfax Radio.
The prime minister said his visit would have required up to 50 police, who may have been useful elsewhere, being taken off the street.
He played down the protests pointing to his days as a student activist at Sydney University when protests and counter-protests were regarded as sport.
"I think they were looking forward to a big rumble today," he said.
Students protest against proposed Abbott government changes to tertiary education at the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne, Wednesday, May 21, 2014. Photo: AAP
Today the National Union of Students is holding a day of action across the country to protest funding cuts and the deregulation of the university HECS scheme.
The union claims says the changes, which take effect from 2016, will burden students with debt for 30-40 years.
"I think the prime minister and his ministers are being a bit cowardly and trying to portray students as though they're violent rabble-rousers who are out to cause trouble," union president Deanna Taylor said.
That wasn't the case at all, she said.
Mr Abbott's cancelled visit followed scuffles last week at Sydney and Melbourne universities, where protesters heckled Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and former federal Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella.
Federal Labor says the deregulation plan will deny poor kids a tertiary education and lead to a two-tiered American-style university system.
Victorian Premier Denis Napthine said it was a sad day for Australia when the threat of protesters stops the Prime Minister from attending a scheduled event.
He said it was disappointing Mr Abbott could not attend the university event because of the antics of a minority.
"I'm advised that the prime minister was given clear advice by the Australian Federal Police that it was a risk situation for the prime minister and for other people who are attending functions here," he told reporters.
"I think it's a sad day for Australian democracy that the Prime Minister can't attend important events in our country because of the threatening behaviours of a small minority.
