Second protest over Australia's offshore detention centres

1:58 pm on 1 December 2016

Protesters who forced a suspension of yesterday's question time have again breached security at Parliament House in Canberra.

The group is rallying against Australia's offshore detention centres and two people have abseiled down the front of the building to unfurl a banner reading "Close the bloody camps now #justice4refugees".

To make that happen, the protesters would have jumped over a fence and bottlebrush shrubs that line the grass lawns.

Another group is standing in a water feature, which has red dye added to it.

Australian Federal Police officers are monitoring the protest, which comes a day after question time in the House of Representatives was interrupted by the same people.

Speaking on Sky News, government senator James McGrath said the protesters were "grubs".

"What a bunch of grubs, what a bunch of absolute grubs," Senator McGrath said.

"It's all about them and their views, they don't care about anyone else, what a bunch of grubs."

Protester Sam Castro said it was a "peaceful" demonstration.

Calls to ramp up security

Yesterday, dozens of protesters stopped question time by yelling pro-refugee slogans from the galleries overlooking the chamber and superglueing themselves to the building's railings.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has endorsed a proposed security upgrade to Federal Parliament.

Under the changes, fencing and landscaping will be used to create a physical perimeter around the building and more CCTV cameras will be installed.

Speaker Tony Smith said contrary to reports, there would be no changes to the way the public entered the building.

He told MPs his primary responsibility was to ensure the safety and security of all staff who worked at Parliament House.

"It's important to acknowledge these works do have an impact on the original design intent on Parliament House," Mr Smith said.

"However, it's also important to acknowledge the world has changed since the original design brief was created for Parliament House in the late 1970s."

- ABC

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