Victoria Police has paid a climate protester $90,000 to settle a civil case alleging police misconduct during a 2019 protest at an international mining conference in Melbourne. The settlement, reached in February, involves no admission of liability by the state.
Timothy Buchanan, 39, alleged that during their arrest at the International Mining and Resources Conference (Imarc) on 29 October 2019, a police sergeant slammed their head into a metal wall, the ground, and a glass door. Buchanan claimed the sergeant also used their head to open the door. The state denied these allegations in its defence.
Buchanan's statement of claim, filed in 2022, alleged that Sergeant Nicholas Bolzonello of the Public Order Response Team grabbed them by the shirt and pushed them before five other officers tackled them. The state argued the force was proportionate due to Buchanan's resistance and the need to keep the area safe.
The settlement was reached days before a class action trial against Victoria Police over alleged excessive use of OC spray at the same conference. A police spokesperson said the settlement was unrelated to those proceedings. Buchanan also alleged Bolzonello used derogatory language, which the state denied.
