Melbourne Uni threatens to call in police

The University of Melbourne has warned pro-Palestine protesters occupying a building on its Parkville campus that it will call police and may expel students if they do not pack up their encampment.

La Trobe University also announced it would begin misconduct proceedings against students who were still camping at its Bundoora campus after it ordered last Friday that they leave.

Protesters at universities across Melbourne continued to defy orders to shut down their camps and many staged snap rallies in response to the eviction orders.

Yesterday morning, a notice issued by University of Melbourne vice chancellor Duncan Maskell was taped up outside the Arts West Building, where about 100 students have staged a sit-in since last Wednesday that has prompted the university to cancel classes. The students are protesting against the university’s long-standing research agreement with aerospace and defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

The notice was also read out over the building’s loudspeaker, encampment organisers said on social media.

The university’s notice says: ‘‘The university directs all persons occupying the Arts West Building to leave the university’s grounds and to remove all personal property from the building.

‘‘Any person who contravenes this direction will be trespassing on university grounds and may be referred to Victoria Police.’’

The university says a failure to comply with the order may result in suspension or expulsion and protesters may be required to pay for any damage caused to the building during the sit-in.

The notice also says an inspection carried out on Friday found ‘‘multiple examples of damage inside the building, including to essential safety measures such as damage and obstructions to required emergency exits, fire panel access and firefighting equipment’’.

However, encampment organisers said National Tertiary Education Union representatives conducted a health and safety inspection of the building yesterday and found the University of Melbourne’s statements to be groundless.

‘‘That NTEU inspection found no obstruction to required emergency exists, no obstruction to fire panel access; in addition, the firefighting equipment appeared to be in good working order,’’ the student organisers said in a post on X.

Despite the notice, the scene was quiet and there was no police presence late yesterday afternoon, several hours after the university issued its order.

Several dozen students were seated outside the Arts West Building and security guards were stationed at the main entrance and other doors. Students were free to enter and leave. Protest organisers declined a request for comment, citing concerns the university would take disciplinary action.

Tensions at universities across Australia have been mounting as students continue camping out and rallying on campuses to protest over Israel’s war in Gaza and universities’ links to Israel or defence companies.

Deakin University last week became the first Australian university to order students to dismantle their encampment, and many other universities have followed. Students at Deakin, La Trobe and Melbourne have ignored their universities’ requests to dismantle their protest camps.

La Trobe students held a snap rally at the Bundoora campus yesterday afternoon ‘‘to demand an end to war in Gaza and no repression of student protest’’.

After the rally, La Trobe University issued a statement saying it respects the right of the students to protest peacefully, but ‘‘for health and safety reasons’’, it would not accommodate the encampment and would start misconduct proceedings against organisers.