Student Protesters Struck With Pepper Spray By Police In Melbourne

A student protest outside a Liberal Party fundraiser on Friday night ended with a police scuffle and pepper spray, ABC News reports.

Approximately 200 people met outside a Docklands venue where Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and former PM John Howard, among others, had convened. The protesters chanted their objections to the Federal Government’s proposed cuts to higher education (and the spectre of uni fee deregulation).

Chanting “No ifs, no buts, no education cuts”, the crowd was quelled by about 50 officers and five mounted police.

The police have since been criticised for the use of pepper spray against several protesters, including, reportedly, one 10-year-old. (An ABC cameraman was also accidentally struck by the spray.)

Video of the event was captured by Wardenclyffe Photography.

Monash Student Association president Abby Stapleton told the ABC that police showed excessive force against the group, which she described as being comprised of “peaceful protesters”.

“I saw a man who was pulled by his hair and thrown to the ground and then kicked in the stomach by a policeman,” she said.

"We were all manhandled quite a bit, we were shoved and pushed and pulled to the ground and kicked and beaten essentially."

Dozens have been treated as police use pepper spray to disperse protestors #abcnews pic.twitter.com/OGzNHvP44k

— Simon Galletta (@SimonGalletta) April 8, 2016

Lucy Hanan of the Refugee Action Collective of Victoria (a group that also attended the protest) echoed Ms. Stapleton’s assessment.

"You can't come in with horses and pepper spray like that and try to wipe away people's concerns,” she said.

Acting Senior Sergeant Kris Hamilton said he was not aware of any 10-year-old being pepper sprayed, but added that a review would still be undertaken.

"Every time police attend or are involved in an incident such as [on Friday] we review our response to understand if any learnings come from it," he said.

No arrests were made at the event. Dozens were treated by paramedics on site.

Photo: Wardenclyffe Photography.