POLICE have denied Mornington's Australia Day celebrations put them under pressure, despite making 10 arrests and issuing up to 20 $234 penalty notices under the state's 'move on' law.
Senior Sergeant Peter Rowley of Mornington police said: "Overall, I would class it as a successful event that might need some minor tweaking for us. There were no injuries and no serious arrests." .
Businessman Scott Crowe, a former president of Mornington Chamber of Commerce, said trouble had been caused by thousands of youths waiting for the fireworks display after the Australia Day parade along Main Street.
Mr Crowe said police had thrown a cordon around the playground in Mornington Park to protect mothers and children.
There had been "alcohol all over the place" and "police were king-hit".
Senior Sergeant Rowley refuted the claims, saying one of the arrests involved allegations of assaulting police "but no one was king-hit –
that's crap, and you can quote me on that".
"The policeman was not badly injured. It [a king hit] did not happen. No one needed medical attention."
Mr Crowe yesterday lobbied members of Mornington Peninsula Shire's special events team to end the fireworks display and change the time of the parade.
Australia Day fireworks displays at Mornington and Rye are sponsored by Fairfax Community Network, publisher of The Mail.
Senior Sergeant Rowley said police numbers had been adequate for the situation "and they knocked off on time".
He estimated that up to 2000 "kids" were in the park "but they weren't committing offences as such".
Legislation passed in December had been used to seize alcohol and issue penalty notices.
Of the 10 people arrested, six would face charges of being drunk and one for assaulting police.
"There was no cordon [around the playground] – it didn't happen. There were incidents and there were families in the playground. It was not an ideal situation, but it was not the wisest thing to do, to stay there," Senior Sergeant Rowley said.
"There were better places to stay. There was no trouble on the beach, only at the park. Basically, I think they were just restless kids waiting for the fireworks. We seized a lot of alcohol but not many were drunk."
Mr Crowe said people flocked to Mornington because Australia Day celebrations finish earlier in other peninsula towns. "Other towns are happy to shovel them back to Mornington. The police need to solve this problem of outrageous behaviour."
He says money spent on fireworks at Mornington could be used to pay bands at a daytime concert in Alexandra Park and that the parade should "start at 11am, like it used to".
The southern peninsula's top policeman, Inspector Shayne Pannell. said the events surrounding Australia Day would be "on the agenda" at today's meeting with the shire's special events team.
He said he had arrived at the park after 5pm and compared groups of "running and screaming" youths to "something you see in the schoolyard".
"It certainly disrupted the family environment and there were a number of scuffles around the park."
He said 13 to 17 year olds had started drinking early in the afternoon.
"I see it as a problem that should involve parents. Some of those contacted by police didn't know where their children were."
Inspector Pannell said one Hastings youth was being released from Mornington police station as his mother was being brought in on a drink-driving offence.
"Maybe the kids swarmed a bit more than last year. It was unfortunate, but our tolerance level was not very high and will be even lower next year."
He said all the problems had ended once the fireworks display started at dusk.
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