IT was déjà vu for Warrnambool police officers at Lake Pertobe on Australia Day as drunken brawling again marred celebrations.
At least five locals were arrested for drunken behaviour at night as a boost in police officers kept revellers in check throughout the day.
Witnesses said the fallout resembled foreshore scenes from last year on Australia Day, when piles of rubbish and broken glass were left at Lake Pertobe’s picnic and playground areas, and a Warrnambool policewoman was struck by a bottle in a drunken melee.
One witness took photos of an ugly fight which went down in front of about 100 people around 4pm on Thursday, with three teenage boys attacking another at Lake Pertobe.
“Two of them came at the one guy, then it was three on one,” he told The Standard.
“A lot of people were just watching, some tried to settle it down. It was pretty crazy.
“It’s becoming like a tradition there on Australia Day.”
Sergeant Kelly McNaughton said police responded to brawls at the foreshore through the day, arresting five Warrnambool people for drunken behaviour at night.
“Police had a busy night on Australia Day responding from brawl to brawl at Lake Pertobe,” Sergeant McNaughton said.
“This is probably worse than New Year’s Eve because people are not required to work so they can start indulging in alcohol earlier on.
“There were a couple of drunk arrests in the early night time.
“At least five Warrnambool people were arrested involved in brawls and fighting.
“We’re tending to find it’s local Warrnambool people overindulging and coming into police attention.”
She said after violent incidents last year police called for additional officers to help keep the peace at Lake Pertobe.
“It was an improvement on last year and that’s got to do with the police response and having the extra staff to cater for the increase in holidaymakers at our foreshore areas.
“We knew a lot of alcohol would probably be consumed down at the foreshore area so we obtained extra resources from Melbourne and specifically tasked them to patrol that area and concentrate on public order and safety.”
Groups of young adults and teenagers gathered at Lake Pertobe to celebrate the holiday. While most revellers were well behaved, Sergeant McNaughton said the drunken brawlers behaviour showed there was room to improve education in the community.
“It comes down to people being educated about the effects of alcohol, how much they can drink and the types of alcohol.
“I saw young people walking around with huge bottles of Jim Beam, drinking from the bottle.
“As an adult I was quite shocked to see young adults binge drinking on strong spirits.
I guess it’s an issue for parents and community organisations to take up and educate the general public about.
“When I was down there early in the afternoon I saw massive amounts of beer cans and rubbish lying around.”
Warrnambool City Council media manager Kim Sweetnam said she was disappointed council officers had to clean up broken glass and graffiti at Lake Pertobe.
“It’s always very disappointing when any public property is vandalised,” she said.
“It’s a shame a minority carry out actions with some impact on the majority of people who enjoy Lake Pertobe.”
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