''Victorians would rather see their hard-working police out protecting the community and keeping the roads safe, instead of having to spend their time dealing with the same individuals at the same blockades day after day,'' he said. Earlier this year Transport Minister Terry Mulder accused the east-west rally Socialist Party leaders of being ''professional protesters''. This week Herald-Sun commentators continued on that theme, branding the entire ''mob'' picketing hydraulic drill sites as a ''ragtag army of ratbags''. ''The ratbag gang of unionists, unwashed hippies, NIMBY greenies, bellicose socialists, confused pensioners and progress-hating layabouts protesting against the east-west link are a godsend for the Napthine government,'' wrote one columnist.

''The professional agitators are not only making a nuisance of themselves and tying up valuable police resources but their attack on ordinary workers trying to earn a living is an affront to every fair-minded Australian.'' This week at least one man was charged following violent scuffles with police in Fitzroy, in which protesters twice managed to shut down the drill sites. During the protests, The Age spoke to many about their motivations for joining the picket line. While up to a third of the group were political activists from the Socialist Party, the rest were people whose homes are set to be bulldozed for the road or shadowed by new flyovers. Others were inner-city residents who argued that the government had no mandate for the $6 billion to $8 billion transport project. They continually pointed to an Age/Nielsen poll that showed 74 per cent of Victorians favoured public transport over the tunnel. On Thursday the weather was heating up and, amid tabloid demands for the ''layabout'' protesters to reimburse the cost of the police presence, some of the group were at the end of their tether.

''Do I look like a professional protester?'' Christine DiMuccio said. The east-west link is set to loom near her home in Parkville and the primary school teacher said her family had yet to receive any information from the government. ''[The Premier] is talking about the money spent on this mob,'' she said, pointing to the line of police. ''And my property value has gone down by how much? I'm educated, I have kids, I volunteer, I can speak for myself, but the people responsible have not consulted us. I've absolutely had it of not having a voice. Show us some evidence why you are destroying communities.'' This week the Coalition set about introducing new laws to give police powers to move on those in picket lines and blockades. Under the changes $720 fines could be given to those ''that deliberately seek to stop people going about their lawful business or endanger people's safety''.

But Liberty Victoria president Jane Dixon, SC, said the law changes were not needed: ''Liberty Victoria does not believe that laws around protests need to be further expanded. Private corporations can already take civil action if they so desire.'' Melbourne University history professor Joy Damousi said Victorians had a long and rich history of protesting. She said demands for refunding the cost of the police presence at the pickets were ''derogatory and impractical''. ''You can't have a democracy where you allow freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and then penalise people for exercising that right.''