The noise began long before Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (AKA Posie Parker) arrived. Despite an 11am scheduled start time to her planned rally to “speak for women”, the Albert Park rotunda was surrounded by 10.30. But the crowd was not there to see or hear her.
A truck parked at the entrance blasted the best of the protest hits. Signs were out – some colourful, others blazoned with colourful language. Sirens blasted, whistles blew, dozens of UE Booms played their own tunes simultaneously. Police were stationed and ready, and an area had been sectioned off for those there to hear what Keen-Minshull had to say. There were about 30 in that group, not enough to fill out the section, and they stood silently as the noise surrounded them.
After a week of heavy media coverage and debate over free speech vs hate speech, Keen-Minshull was granted entry into the country after tensions rose in Melbourne when neo-Nazis were shown performing the Nazi salute alongside her rally. Keen-Minshull is a “women’s rights” activist who travels the world holding public events to speak about the dangers that women face from trans people. She was expected to speak for three hours to whoever would listen.
She arrived at Albert Park flanked by security, who cleared a path for her through the protesters and helped her up onto the rotunda. The noise only got louder as the crowd surged forward, filling the cordoned section until it was impossible to tell who was actually there to support Keen-Minshull.
She spent a few moments filming the crowd, smiling. When she attempted to speak, the sirens blasted and the yelling intensified and she couldn’t be heard. After 10 minutes of intermittent smiling and noiseless speaking, she gave up. By then, the crowd had grown again, reaching back to the fountain and onto the road.
Surrounded by her security team and a dozen police officers, Keen-Minshull left. It was a 100 metre walk to her police car escort and the crowd followed her all the way, chanting “go home, Posie”. She is scheduled to speak in Wellington tomorrow and an equally vocal crowd is expected to be in attendance.
All up, Keen-Minshull spent 24 minutes at her three-hour rally. She tried to speak but no one was listening.
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