A Hamas symbol has been attached to the n coat of arms on the entrance of Parliament House as part of a huge security breach by pro-Palestinian protestors.
The protestors climbed to the roof of Parliament House and unfurled banners, one including a Hamas symbol.
Senator James Paterson has commented on a symbol on one of the banners unfurled by the protestors: ‘That upside down red triangle is Hamas-symbology that is supposed to indicate IDF targets and Israeli targets in the context of the war in Israel and Gaza.’
‘For that to be appropriated in our parliament, hung from the front of our parliament is a disturbing thing.’
Three lonely protesters were seen carrying out the shocking act and screaming, ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’.
After a few minutes of silence, protesters near the main entrance to the courtyard began yelling the same chants.
Their voices were hoarse from bellowing across the public courtyard and their faces were covered.
In the moments where there was no yelling, they appeared to use gaffer tape to keep their banners from flying off the roof.
n Federal Police representatives said they were aware of the unfolding situation.
Earlier, climate protesters used glue to attach themselves to marble in the main foyer.
They screamed: ‘Albanese, blood on your hands! Penny Wong, blood on your hands! Richard Marles, blood in your hands!’
The protestors were sprayed with an anti-adhesive by police.
Moments later, cleaners were working to remove the remainder of the glue from the marble pillars.
A number of paper planes have torpedoed from the roof.
One was covered with a smear of blood and was flown from the roof to the ground. It said ‘war crimes’ on the front.
‘If we were in Palestine, they would be real bombs but we only have paper planes,’ one protester explained, from the roof of parliament.
The protesters indicated they would ‘stay up here for a little bit longer’, before making their way down.
They are demanding to speak with Anthony Albanese or Penny Wong.
‘The protestors are chanting,’ One, two three, f*** the ALP! Four, five, six, f*** the ALP!’ and screaming ‘All zionists are terrorists.’
One protester threw a paper plan off the roof that went further than the rest and the main protester congratulated him on a good throw.
The protest has represented a large security breach and it is unclear how the protestors managed to clamber onto the roof of Parliament House.
The protest is occurring on the final sitting day of federal parliament before it breaks for five weeks.
One protestor has accused the Albanese government of being complicit in the genocide of Palestinians and Indigenous ns.
The protestor denounced for its involvement in the Vietnam and Afghanistan wars.
Federal MP Keith Pitt at the scene of the protest said, ‘It is important for all sides of politics to make sure we don’t motivate others to take these risks.’
‘We are an n government, we support the right to protest but you can’t put yourself in danger.’
‘I’ve seen this occur once before, we’ve included additional fencing… this would have taken a lot of organisation,’ Mr Pitt said.
Liberal senator Simon Birmingham has slammed the protesters.
‘We stand in defence of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.’
‘But that’s got to be done in a way that doesn’t put other people in danger, and doesn’t create massive inconvenience for other ns,’ Mr Birmingham said.
‘Plenty of ns have found themselves stuck in hour-long traffic jams as extremist protesters have stuck themselves to roads.’
The protestors have unfurled banners from the roof of Parliament House.
One reads ‘WAR CRIMES’, another reads ‘No peace on stolen land, genocide since 1788’.
A third banner read, ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’.
At about 11.15, they started removing the banners from the n coat of arms.
Protesters then had to shimmy their way across the metal rafters, between large lanes of glass, to get off the roof.
A police statement given to the ABC reads: ‘ACT Policing and AFP Protective Service Officers are responding to protest activity at Parliament House.’
‘Protestors located inside the premises have been removed, however a small number of people remain in unsafe locations at the front of the building.’
‘No arrests have been made at this time. Further updates will be provided later today.’
Police are negotiating with the pro-Palestine protestors as Coalition politicians have condemned the Parliament House security breach.
The protestors have been removed from the roof of Parliament House and as they were marched to police vans in handcuffs, they continued chanting ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’.
more to come