<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan insists Melbourne CBD is safe despite the city being rocked by </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/melbourne-victoria-police-assaulted-protests-australia/1eb44402-0466-4438-8340-ee17b498562e" rel="" target="_blank" title="violent protests"><span>violent protests</span></a><span> and </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/melbourne-cctv-shows-woman-randomly-stabbed-while-walking-in-broad-daylight/0f1383c0-1eec-44d0-90fc-da6c4f46a0c5" rel="" target="_blank" title="daylight stabbings"><span>daylight stabbings</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Two police officers were hospitalised after clashing with protesters in the CBD on Sunday, where a March for Australia anti-immigration protest was met with counter-protesters who allegedly threw large rocks at police, as well as rotten fruit, and bottles with shards of glass.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This came just days after the revelation of a shocking daylight stabbing near Spencer St, where a woman was stabbed in the chest by a stranger.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/louvre-museum-robbery-musee-du-louvre-closed-for-exceptional-reasons/aabe4c60-19e9-41da-930d-9763d1c095b4" target="_blank"><strong><span>Shaky phone vision emerges of high-stakes four-minute Louvre heist</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Senior Victoria Policeman Wayne Cheeseman condemned the protesters and claimed Melburnians have "had a gutful" of recent protests and violent crime incidents in the city.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Allan stated recently the city was safe, and she stood by her remarks at a press conference on Monday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I will repeat that yes, Melbourne's CBD is safe," she said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/melbourne-news-protests-jacinta-allan-police/707cacf5-58cb-488d-9704-ddd7754b36d6" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I think it would be wrong and misleading to conflate the behaviour of a very small number of people yesterday who came to the city to bring violence, and they were dealt with swiftly by Victoria Police."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/coles-woolworths-aldi-australia-supermarkets-price-gouging-laws-labor-government/da731a5c-33d2-4b39-90bc-7d8deb09a58e" target="_blank"><strong><span>Government to table laws to combat supermarket price gouging</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The protests in Melbourne were just one of many to take place around the country, with Sydney, Brisbane and Perth all seeing anti-immigration protesters and counter-protesters converging in city centres.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Allan said the actions of a small majority - police estimated around 40 of the 1000 protesters in Melbourne were violent - should not be conflated with previous peaceful protests in Melbourne.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We've had some significant size protests in cities, in Melbourne, in Sydney, around the country that have been peaceful, that haven't seen this level of violence. What we saw yesterday was a very different pattern of behaviour," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It was violent, it was unacceptable, it's not tolerated."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/china-hong-kong-cargo-aircraft-skidded-off-airport-runway-into-the-sea-two-confirmed-dead/0376b501-09ec-412f-aec1-efa16f6135b4" target="_blank"><strong><span>Two dead after cargo plane skids off runway into sea while landing at Hong Kong</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Cheeseman and other figures in Victoria Police have called on more support and funding from the State government, but Allan insisted police had adequate resources to deal with protests and other violent incidents.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"[Police] had the resources, and also, importantly, they had the powers to deal with those protesters."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She added she expects police to use these powers to their full effect to punish the perpetrators; so far only one person has been arrested in relation to Sunday's protest.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I want to thank Victoria police for the way they kept the community safe and dealt swiftly with this group of protesters who were choosing to use violence. It was unacceptable," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It is my expectation that the full force of the law will be brought to those who perpetrated this violence, which subsequently has been identified and are being investigated by Victoria Police."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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