Thirty-eight people have been arrested – including two 17-year-olds and a 15-year-old – and three vans have been towed. One of the protesters told The Age: "Things like this will keep happening until we see change - until ... it's a vegan world". The protesters are being led away one by one. Credit:Zach Hope Superintendent David Clayton said police were disappointed the protesters had not spoken to police before their action. "There will be people who couldn't access services during this time," Superintendent Clayton said.

“The safety and security of the community is Victoria Police’s number one priority. “Police are able to facilitate planned protests when we are engaged with them which doesn’t put the community at risk." Protesters being moved by police about 9am. Credit:Zach Hope The large protests in Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland marked the one-year anniversary of the release of the film Dominion, which documents factory farming in Australia. In Melbourne, protesters parked several vans in the middle of the busy junction about 7am, with some chaining themselves to the vehicles.

More than 100 people then formed a ring around the intersection, blocking peak-hour traffic. About 9am, police started to tell protesters to move on, cutting the chains, towing the vans and, ultimately, arresting those who refused their orders. The vans, which had been parked in the middle of the intersection, are being towed. Credit:Zach Hope The intersection reopened about 10.30am. While attention was at the intersection, about 50 protesters stationed themselves at the front of the Melbourne Aquarium, where they chained themselves to each other using piping.

They said they were from Justice for Captives, the group behind the protests at Sea World and Outback Spectacular last year. The activists' co-ordinated campaign has targeted nine sites in four states. Protesters connected outside the Melbourne Aquarium. Credit:Zach Hope At three Victorian abattoirs – MC Herd in Geelong, Westside Meats in Bacchus Marsh, and O’Connors Abattoir in Pakenham – activists drove trucks across the entrances and exits and then let down their tyres. Several activists also filmed themselves blocking the entrance of Australian Food Group's pig slaughterhouse in Laverton.

In Queensland, activists were managed to persuade staff at the Carey Bros abattoir at Yangan to release three sheep. Marty Bella from Greens Shirts Queensland, a movement for regional and rural Australians, condemned the actions of the protesters and Yangan abattoir staff. Piping and chains are being used at the protest outside the aquarium. Credit:Zach Hope "There was a negotiation with the proprietors so by the time police got there the deal was done," he said. The proprietors agreed not to make a formal complaint, meaning the activists escaped arrest – with their sheep.

Separately, nine activists said they had locked themselves onto a Goulburn slaughterhouse in NSW since 2am to shine a light on what they said was the "oxymoron of humane slaughter". NSW Police said nine people had been arrested at Goulburn after the owner of the abattoir asked the protesters to leave about 4am, but they allegedly refused. The protest is affecting tram lines and traffic. Credit:Zach Hope "Goulburn police rescue cut the people free and arrested them at the scene," a spokesperson said. "Three women refused to walk from the abattoir and had to be carried to the police vehicle." Three men, one aged 46 and two aged 22, and six women, aged between 21 and 61 were due to be charged at the Goulburn police station.

Delays 'don't compare' The documentary film Dominion is described as a look at the "legal, standard practices employed daily in Australian farms and slaughterhouses that remain unknown to most consumers". Chris Delforce from the Dominion network said he expected members of the public would be frustrated that their day had been disrupted. One protester is removed by police on Monday morning. Credit:AAP “At the end of the day, when people see what these animals are going through, a small delay in their day doesn’t really compare,” he said.

He said he thought most people usually ended up feeling angrier at animal rights abuses than the disruption protests caused. One of the Melbourne organisers, Kristin Leigh, told The Age that protesters didn’t want to be causing disruption but claimed that "this is a climate emergency and an environmental emergency". Protestors in the middle of the Melbourne CBD. Credit:Zach Hope Dianne Delbridge came out of an office on Flinders Street to flashing lights and police roadblocks. She was in hospital with a broken ankle when victims were brought in from the Flinders Street attack in 2017.

“The first thing your head goes to is ‘has there been another terror attack'. I’m sure that’s where everyone’s head goes,” she said on Monday. “I think it’s ridiculous. I understand why people want to protect animals – I do myself – but I don’t think it’s worth disrupting and frightening people.” Protestors chained themselves to vans in the middle of the intersection. Credit:Zach Hope The Melbourne protest took "months" of planning, one of the protesters said. "We knew what our job role was and we had marshalls for each group. When the vans came we stepped out and said it was a peaceful protest so people didn’t get scared or thought that it was an attack. We said ‘no one is going to get harmed, you’re just not going to get through'," she told The Age.