Prime Minister Scott Morrison has invoked the shutdown of Anzac Day memorials due to coronavirus as he urged Australians to show respect and not attend protests against police brutality this weekend.
While coronavirus social distancing restrictions remain in place, protests against Indigenous deaths in custody and in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States are planned in most Australian capital cities on Saturday.
More than 18,000 people have clicked 'attending' on the Melbourne Facebook event, and another 10,000 in Sydney, but Mr Morrison sent a clear message to those planning to attend during a media conference on Friday.
"For all of those Australians who couldn't attend the funeral of a family member, or couldn't see a loved one in a nursing home, or a veteran who couldn't remember their fallen colleagues by attending a war memorial service on Anzac Day, I think all Australians owe all those other Australians a great degree of responsibility," he said.
"I say to [protesters]: don't go."
As the Prime Minister addressed the nation from Parliament House, hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters gathered in Canberra.
ACT police told SBS News no fines or infringements were issued for breaches of social distancing at the rally.
"The crowd was well behaved and followed the advice of police," the spokesperson said.
Mr Morrison said people had the right to protest, but added that the public health risk of spreading COVID-19 was legitimate.
He pointed to people standing on their driveway to pay respect on Anzac Day this year, as opposed to attending memorial services and marches, as an example of Australians showing responsibility.
"We found a way to celebrate those who gave us our liberty. Let's not misuse that liberty. Let's respect it. Let's respect other Australians," he added.
The message was in keeping with state politicians who have called on people not to attend the protests.
On Friday morning, New South Wales Police Minister David Elliot condemned anyone planning to attend, and not "of sound mind".
Hours later, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced to stop the protest going ahead due to public health concerns.
She said approval for the event was granted on the understanding it would be a small gathering.
"The New South Wales Government would never ever give the green light to thousands of people flagrantly disregarding the health orders," she said.
Organisers of events in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra have urged attendees to maintain 1.5-metre social distancing, wear masks, and use hand sanitiser while at the rally.
Melbourne has gone further and said attendees must wear masks, while the Sydney organisers said they relocated to a larger venue to allow for distancing.
Federal chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said even if attendees tried to practice social distancing, mass-gatherings are fundamentally unsafe.
"A mass gathering, even if people try to make it safe by trying to practise distancing and hand hygiene, is inherently dangerous because people can't really keep apart," Professor Murphy said.
"We have done so much, we have sacrificed so much as Australians, to get us in an enviable position of where we are now. It would be very foolish to sacrifice by exposing the population to a larger outbreak."
Heated protests have spread across the world following the death of black man George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis on 25 May.
The death has sparked outrage over Australia’s own history of police brutality, with more than 400 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in custody since 1991, according to the Guardian’s database.
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your state’s restrictions on gathering limits.
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