Organiser Victoria McKenzie-McHarg estimated the crowd was at least 60,000 strong. Organisers claim the event was the largest climate change rally in Australian history. Credit:Eddie Jim "This absolutely is the largest climate change rally we have ever seen in Australian history," she said to cheers from the crowd. Chanting "What do we want? Climate justice. When do we want it? Now", the demonstrators marched from the State Library to Parliament House. A sea of placards stretched down Bourke Street from Spring Street to Swanston Street and along Swanston Street from Bourke Street to La Trobe Street.

There was a stand-off between banked-up traffic and protesters at Exhibition Street as frustrated drivers honked their horns and the crowd erupted in cheers and shouts. Demonstrators gather at the State Library to demand strong action on climate change. Credit:Eddie Jim Stunned diners observed the march from outside Bourke Street cafes, and some heckled the demonstrators. Sections of the crowd were more like a party, with some dancing and clapping to a marching band dressed in green-glittered uniforms, while others swayed to the strumming of a guitar. Attendees marched from the State Library to Parliament House. Credit:Eddie Jim

Bopping along was Royal Melbourne Hospital doctor Katherine Barraclough in her blue scrubs. There with her husband, two young boys and parents, she said: "I've got kids and I love the natural world and I want to do everything I can to protect it." Organisers estimated the crowd was at least 60,000 strong. Credit:Eddie Jim Geology student and Brunswick resident Finn Ryan said he was pleased with the turnout. "I'm dissatisfied with how most politicians think about the climate and there needs to be a lot more done about it," he said.

The rally is one of hundreds being held around the world in the lead up to the United Nations climate change conference in Paris next week. Credit:Eddie Jim "It's great that so many other people think enough is enough." Ivanhoe resident Sue Robertson said she came to the rally to send a message to politicians ahead of the Paris climate summit. Children observe the rally from on a statue at the State Library. Credit:Eddie Jim "It's extremely important at this point in time because we've got runaway warming going on, we're heading up to over over two degrees by the end of the century," she said.

"It's extremely important that targets are set to reduce carbon emissions." The rally ended with a minute's silence before the crowd joined together for a rendition of Paul Kelly's From Little Things Big Things Grow. Earlier on Friday afternoon, a separate rally was also held in the city to draw attention to concerns about threats to remote indigenous communities. Andy Parsons, an Environment Victoria volunteer who attended both rallies, said environmentalists supported the right of Aboriginal people to live independently. "The Aboriginal people lived sustainably for thousands of years. Us white people could learn a lot from them," he said.

Aboriginal man Robbie Thorpe said he saw a parallel between the "genocide" of his people and what he called the "ecocide" of Australia's natural environment. "We are the custodians of the land and the language. Only we know how to talk to our land. Without the Aboriginal people the land can't survive and without the land, we can't survive." With Tom Cowie and AAP