Police say they are "doing what they can" under the law as sovereign rights/anti-vaxxer "cookers" thumb their nose at local authority by lighting fires and camping illegally in the Black Mountain car park.
A Twitter post on Sunday showed the group cooking their dinner in the public reserve on an open fire, and a separate one showed stacks of sawn firewood in the parking area. The group are largely camping in vehicles registered interstate. Each morning they make speeches and call across the lake to Government House.
Must be nice having having a popular park in the nation's captial effectively given to you
— Rob (@tallyhoez) September 18, 2022
Are the rest of us able to make a booking? I'd love to have Black Mountain Peninsula for a weekend. Campfires, beers, a few mates. What a treat
Best of all, it's free apparently pic.twitter.com/Yj1K4ACUtH
Meanwhile, ACT Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan has described dealing with the group as like a game of "whack a mole".
A number of matters in which members of the "issues-motivated" group have been arrested for minor offences have been "thrown out of court", he said, which is a continuing source of frustration both for police and the City Rangers.
"While we respect people's right to protest, what they don't have a right to do is to turn any piece of vacant land they take a fancy to into a campground," Deputy Commissioner Gaughan said.
"These people are exploiting loopholes wherever possible to avoid arrest, or in some instances they are being arrested, bailed, and doing the exact same thing again.
"Moving forward, I have instructed my officers to crack down on this behaviour. People who ignore police directions not to camp at locations other than official ACT campgrounds will be charged accordingly and brought before the courts.
"My message to the protestors is this - you have had ample opportunity to have your say, we have heard you, repeatedly, and I am sure I speak for many Canberrans who would like their lives to return to normal.
"Please take this opportunity to finally return home.
"I continue to encourage members of the public who see protestors camping in such a manner to call police on 131 444."
Under the Public Unleased Land Act 2013, use of land in the ACT which is not designated for camping is an offence and police have the power to seize or remove vehicles to prevent them being used to "commit, continue or repeat the offence".
Police are also authorised to remove a vehicle "if satisfied on reasonable grounds that the thing poses a risk to the health or safety of people or of damage to property or the environment".
"Cooker watching" has now become a Canberra curiosity, despite the small group of protesters - varying from about a dozen to some 20 in number - being divided over what they are protesting about, and why.
Police were forced to evict the Convoy to Canberra campers from Exhibition Park in February. The campground there has been closed ever since, costing the government hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue.
Meanwhile, the costs of managing the cookers is running into millions of dollars, with police resources diverted to dealing with the group's breaches of the peace, trespass and illegal camping on a regular basis.
Back in early May, police had recorded over 40,000 hours of interactions with the group, with the cost of managing the cookers blowing out to $3.5 million at that time.
ACT police said they have incurred the base salary costs of managing the "issues-motivated" group, with the excess operating costs passed on to AFP national operations.
