Activists chase after Oz immigration minister down the street

Australia’s Minister for Immigration found himself caught up in a protest as angry pro-refugee activists interrupted his press conference and chased him down the street.

17 September 2011, 12:00am

1 min read

Chris Bowen, Australia’s Immigration Minister, was giving a press conference in Smithfield about the government’s planned changes to asylum laws. But members of the Refugee Action Coalition interrupted him as he tried to answer questions from journalists.

When Bowen left the press conference and drove off in a car, the activists chased after him for about a kilometer, shouting “shame Bowen shame’’.

The Australian government is planning to amend the Migration Act, which severely restricts its ability to send asylum seekers offshore for processing. A representative of the NGO said, “the protest is completely opposed to offshore processing of any kind.”