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[ WARRIOR NEWS ].///\\*|||.

#OperationFortitude - #CANCELLED

Australian Border Force visa checks.

AUGUST 28, 2015.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ OPERATION FORTITUDE CANCELLED ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

A major policing operation planned for Melbourne's CBD this weekend has been cancelled after a backlash over plans to include Australian Border Force (ABF) officials in the crackdown.

Victoria Police issued a press release saying Operation Fortitude had been cancelled this afternoon.

Earlier, the ABF had said it would be checking people's visas on the streets of the city centre as part of the operation, which also involved Victoria Police and other agencies.

The original announcement quoted ABF regional commander for Victoria and Tasmania Don Smith as saying, "officers would be positioned at various locations around the city and would speak with any individual we cross paths with".

The ABF then issued another statement saying, "To be clear, the ABF does not and will not stop people at random in the streets... the ABF does not target of the basis of race, religion, or ethnicity".

More details were expected to be released in a press conference at 2:00pm, but the event was cancelled after demonstrators began assembling outside Melbourne's Flinders Street Station to protest against the operation.

Demonstrators gather outside Flinders Street Station in Melbourne's CBD to protest against Operation Fortitude.

The statement about the operation's cancellation was then issued.

"Victoria Police has made a decision not to go ahead with this weekend's Operation Fortitude", it said.

"We understand there has been a high level of community interest and concern which has been taken into consideration when making this decision".

"Victoria Police's priority is the safety and well-being of the whole community and we will continue to work with our partner agencies to achieve this".

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ INTENDED TO BE STANDARD POLICE OPERATION ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Victorian Government also issued a statement apologising for the 'unfortunate' and 'inappropriate' 'characterisation' of the 'ABF'.

"The State Government was notified this month that Victoria Police would lead a 'joint-agency-operation' this weekend in the 'CBD' aimed at keeping Victorians safe", the statement said.

"We were advised it would target 'anti-social-behaviour' and 'commuters' to ensure people got home safely".

The Victorian Government said, "Operation Fortitude was intended to be a standard police operation".

"We fully support the decision by Victoria Police to cancel the operation after the 'unfortunate' and 'inappropriate' 'characterisation' by the 'Australian-Border-Force' today".

Senator David Leyonhjelm said, "The cancellation was good news, we do not need any more #UniformedGoons".

"Will they find another way to target people either through general harassment or racial profiling?" he said.

"Either the Border Force are doing racial profiling, in which case they should stop it, or they are hassling everyone, and they should stop that as well".

"This indicates that the Border Force should be radically downsized and its workers allowed to do something useful for a living".

Under the Migration Act, an officer may require a person who the officer knows or reasonably suspects is a 'non-citizen' to show their 'ID' or their 'proof-of-citizenship' or 'visa'.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ STALIN WOULD BE PROUD ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

In the wake of the blunder, independent MP Andrew Wilkie compared Prime Minister Tony Abbott to former Soviet dictator #JosephStalin.

"Joseph Stalin would be proud of Tony Abbott", he said in a statement.

"Just as #EastGermany's #Stasi would be delighted with the #AustralianBorderForce, even #ChileanDictator #GeneralPinochet would be impressed".

"The decision by the Federal Government to cancel this weekend's security operation in Melbourne is a welcome respite, for now at least, but the Government has shown its hand by planning the operation in the first place".

He said, "The community was right to protest the Government's actions, saying it was turning Australia into a #PoliceState".

"The community was outraged at the prospect of the random visa checks and should remain incensed with the Government for thinking such an activity would be acceptable in the first place", he said.

"Australia is now a police state where citizens could be stopped in the street to have their papers checked... Are we to presume the enemies of the state will start to be disappeared?"

"Since the terrorist attacks in the US in 2001, Australians have been subject to countless new security law excesses, including the mandatory retention of metadata by the current government".