Four people connected with the Convoy to Canberra protest have been arrested overnight for camping illegally at the Cotter River.
Approximately 10,000 protesters travelled to Canberra over the weekend to protest many things including COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Many of those who stayed to camp were evicted from Exhibition Park yesterday after their booking expired, resulting in three arrests.
But ACT Policing's Commander of Operations, Linda Champion, said that four more people were arrested after moving to the Cotter-mouth Camping Grounds, in Canberra's west, and camping without a permit.
"Last night, we actually arrested another four people who didn't want to obey lawful direction," Commander Champion told ABC Radio Canberra.
"[Those protesters who stayed] have moved on to other campsites, which legally they have every right to do so.
"For those that then moved into overflow spaces, we then moved in and moved those campers on as well.
However, Commander Champion said there were "potentially not" enough spaces to camp in the ACT, "depending on how many want to stay".
"For those that want to stay in Canberra or near Canberra, they just have to seek out spots, and there's a lot of [websites] you can go on to actually find those available," she said.
Man found with plans of Parliament House
In a parliamentary hearing last night, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw revealed the man who was arrested in Canberra on February 4 with a loaded, modified rifle in his vehicle, also had plans of Parliament House in his possession.
The 44-year-old was charged with possessing an illegal firearm and also faced multiple traffic offences related to his vehicle's roadworthiness.
"We've just spent the last two weeks with those protesters … we're up to 20 arrests now and I think climbing even today," Commissioner Kershaw told the hearing.
However, Commander Champion said on ABC Radio Canberra the discovery "wasn't too concerning" because of the public availability of the plans.
"They weren't plans of the actual building itself, it was just the outline of the area and anything you can get off normal media sites, so it wasn't too concerning," she said.
"For anyone coming to Canberra, if they wanted to see the very basic layout of Parliament House that's the sort of thing that they'd look at."
Commissioner Kershaw also referenced an incident with a truck, which breached police barriers outside Parliament House.
"The police officers actually had to take some pretty strong action, I think, smash a window, open that door, get that individual out," he said.
"And they successfully did and charge that person who is before the courts."
Protesters 'pretty well behaved' overall
Commissioner Kershaw told the hearing the protest prompted such a strong police presence on Saturday because "they were not a coordinated group, which actually provides a challenge for us as law enforcement".
"Our assessment was that we were concerned where the numbers started to swell, and then some of the intentions, it was not clear," he said.
"These are people who … for us would be in the criminal sphere."
Despite the forced closure of the Lifeline book fair and the Capital Region Farmers Market, Commissioner Kershaw said that on the whole, the protesters were "pretty well behaved".
“It was more … those individuals within those groups," he said.
"It was just, you know, a few who decided to commit offences."
Commander Champion agreed, and said that "as a whole, they were well behaved".
"There are some people there with really genuine concerns and they conducted themselves lawfully and that's what we want from protesters," she said.
