Police in Australia raise concerns ahead of protests | Afternoon Bulletin 13 September 2025

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Source: SBS News

In this bulletin, Police are concerned about chaos, as left and right wing protests begin; Social media platforms urged to take down videos of the Charlie Kirk shooting; and in sport; Officials found to have placed hundreds of bets on races in Tasmania.


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TRANSCRIPT

Police in Victoria say they are concerned about chaos as rival groups hold their respective protests this afternoon.

Rallies will be staged in Melbourne and other capital cities under the Australia Unites banner, made up of several splinter groups - but there are also opposing protests led by Indigenous and Palestinian activist groups who say they are responding to neo-Nazis allegedly raiding an Indigenous camp in Melbourne on August 31.

Victoria's Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny has said the government supports peaceful protest but rebukes any potential plans to engage in harm and violence.

Superintendent Troy Papworth from Victoria Police say officers want to avoid a repeat of the Camp Sovereignty attack - but are worried that troublemakers will use the protests as an excuse to pick a fight.

"We've got groups here who are coming together with extremist right wing ideology. We can't discount the fact that like we saw two weeks ago that the National Socialist Network will be attending these protests and speaking."



Australia's online safety regulator says school-aged children have accessed the unedited footage that shows the moment of Charlie Kirk's violent shooting death in the US.

The eSafety Commission says at least one social media platform has voluntarily removed instances of the video after the Commission received those reports and informed the company of the material.

It is unclear which platform that refers to, and how many videos of the moment of the shooting remain online.

But the regulator says those who see such a video should not share it further, and instead report it to the platform.



Brazil's current president has hit back at US criticism of the conviction of the country's former leader.

Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison after being found guilty by a majority Supreme Court panel of plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election.

U.S. President Donald Trump has called the case a 'witch hunt', and in retaliation has hit Brazil with tariff hikes, sanctions against the presiding judge, and the revocation of visas for most of the high court justices.

But President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva has suggested Trump's remarks are hypocritical, because the US president also tried to overturn an election result in 2020.


Portuguese translated to English: "If US President (Donald) Trump were living in Brazil and had done what he did at the Capitol, he would be on trial here too, because here the law applies to everyone. The law applies to the opposition, it applies to the ruling party, it applies to congressmen. It applies to those who are not congressmen, it applies to the poor, it applies to the rich. There’s just one law.”



The United Nations General Assembly has endorsed a two-state solution to the war in the Gaza Strip and an end to Hamas' control of the territory.

The vote comes ahead of a meeting of world leaders on September 22 on the sidelines of the high-level UN General Assembly where Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Canada and Belgium are expected to formally recognise a Palestinian state.

The vote was boycotted by Israel and the US.

But Palestinian Permanent Observer to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, has described the vote as an important step forward.

"I trust that this overwhelming vote and endorsement by all those who voted in favour of this resolution is an illustration of saying, yes, we have a plan. Yes, we have a detailed roadmap for peace."



Muslim communities say concrete steps to stamp out hate are needed as they deal with rising Islamophobia around the nation.

Data from the Islamophobia Register has found there has been a 530 per cent increase in incidents reported since the Hamas attacks on October 7 2023.

The Register's Queensland-based executive director Nora Amath says Muslims feel targeted and afraid against the backdrop of recent anti-migrant rallies.

The register's Australian co-executive director, Sharara Attai, says urgent action is needed to repair and strengthen the relationship between the federal government and the Muslim community.

"I think that there's widespread mistrust. I think it will take a lot to amend that relationship. I don't think the handing down of this report in itself is going to amend that relationship, a lot more needs to be done, and Islamophobia needs to be treated with a level of urgency that we have not seen yet."



To sport,

An investigation has found a group of horse and greyhound racing stewards in Tasmania placed hundreds of bets on races over a two and a half year period - including some at events where they were officiating.

Tasmania's Racing Integrity Commissioner says their investigation has determined five stewards breached their code of conduct in placing the bets.

But the Commissioner says there is no evidence of criminality, collusion, race fixing or money laundering.

***

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Police in Australia raise concerns ahead of protests | Afternoon Bulletin 13 September 2025 | SBS News