Peaceful picnic marks ‘420 Day’ in Melbourne – ahead of an election where minor parties could play a defining role

‘My race is not with the Greens. It’s not with the Labor party. My race is with One Nation and the Trumpet of Patriots’: The Legalise Cannabis party’s Fiona Patten at Flagstaff Gardens on Sunday. Photograph: Petra Stock/The Guardian

More than a hundred peaceful picnickers gathered on the green grass of Melbourne’s Flagstaff Gardens support of the legalisation of cannabis on Sunday.

This year, the annual 20 April global celebration of cannabis (known as “420”), landed during a federal campaign in which independents and minor parties are expected to play a defining role.