Canberrans have been warned to brace themselves for the return of protest activity next month, with police intelligence indicating that the type of protest activity from recent weeks will resume in late March to coincide with the budget sittings of Federal Parliament.
In the ACT Assembly committee inquiry into police annual reporting, Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan confirmed that his operational resources were being prepared for the anti-vaccine-mandate and sovereign citizen protesters to return, adding that the Canberra public could reasonably expect disruptions from next month.
He said there had been undisclosed "technical capability" and significant intelligence-gathering assistance provided by police in other states and territories. They had offered information on "people of interest" entering the ACT, which provided "situational awareness" and helped to manage what Deputy Commissioner Gaughan described as the biggest protest seen in the ACT since the mid-1980s.
"That information had been passed on to us many times without us even requesting it," he said.
"Without that intelligence ... we would have been running blind.
"We also had our police colleagues actively monitoring the convoys as they came into the territory, and they passed information to us that gave us some idea of numbers."
ACT Policing "stood up" a joint intelligence group at its Winchester Police Centre in December, in the lead-up to Australia Day. That dedicated resource is ongoing, and is expected to keep operating for some weeks.
Deputy Commissioner Gaughan confirmed that ACT Policing - a unique $180 million-a-year contracted police service with members drawn from the Australian Federal Police - drew heavily on many areas of the federal cohort, including national members, airport police and protective services officers who usually provide security for places like The Lodge and foreign embassies.
The anti-mandate protest reached its crescendo on February 12, with protester numbers swelling to about 15,000 in the Parliamentary Triangle.
Visiting protesters, some from as far away as Western Australia and Yeppoon in Queensland, had to be evicted twice by police during their time in the ACT, first from an illegal campsite on the Patrick White lawns in front of the National Library, and then from Exhibition Park, where their presence was preventing set-up ahead of the Royal Canberra Show.
Police Minister Mick Gentleman told the hearing that he had written to the federal Territories Minister ahead of the latest protests, expressing his concern over "what seems to be less action from the federal government in dissuading protest activity in the territory".
"I'm very concerned about the responses I've received [from the federal government]," he said.
"It appears they don't seem too worried about what is happening here in Canberra; it's most disappointing. But I will persist and see what we can do."
Deputy Commissioner Gaughan said 23 people had been arrested over nearly two months of protest activity, an outcome which he said indicated police were able to manage the situation "in a manner which met the expectations of the Canberra community".
"Even The Canberra Times supported us," he quipped.
