Around 200 Australians have marched from Melbourne’s Footscray Park to the gates of the Flemington Racecourse during protests against the Victorian government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Melbourne Cup, a public holiday in the state of Victoria, was underway at the racecourse, which saw around ten thousand fully vaccinated punters join the festivities. The group stopped in front of the venue chanting and carrying signs reading, “Kill the Bill,” “No Vaccine Passports,” and, “The freedoms you surrender today are the freedoms your grandchildren will never know existed.” Police monitored the rally. Protests have become a regular occurrence in the Australian state as residents express frustration with vaccine mandates, lockdowns, and more recently, the impending Pandemic Management Bill. On the weekend, thousands took to the streets protesting against the Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (Pandemic Management) Bill 2021, which cleared the lower house of Victoria’s Parliament last week. The bill …