For 16 years MIKE WELSH has been taking photos of street protests and rallies, always believing that protests matter, “for the simple reason it confirms we can still actually march and give voice to our issues and concerns without fear.” Here’s a quick look at his remarkable work…

Journalist Mike Welsh can’t seem to resist a good protest, preferably at Parliament House.

Since 2010, the former long-time drive-show presenter on 2CC has been photographing the many characters and causes that front up to make their opinions known and voices heard on Capital Hill.

“Originally I was seeking audio content for the radio show,” Mike says. “We’d single out and interview some of the more outrageous or eccentric attendees and get photos for our website. And I never could resist the urge to correct the appalling incorrect usage of the apostrophe on placards!”

Even after stepping back from radio some years ago, Mike still turns up with his camera, always believing that protests matter, “for the simple reason it confirms we can still actually march and give voice to our issues and concerns without fear.”

And some of the highlights from all those protests?

“The Convoy of No Confidence made a big splash in December 2011 thanks to right-wing media – 2GB broadcast live from the site – and drew plenty of MPs from the conservative side of politics out for photo ops with the big rigs,” Mike says.

“And when the farmers and their families came to town (some bringing a tractor) to peacefully and respectfully air their grievances over the Murray Darling Basin plan, they left little doubt that they meant business and would not be ignored.

“South Australian teenager Ned Richards was joined by his father Adam and a few dozen others in a march from Adelaide to the Capital in February 2017 calling for the end to offshore detention on Manus Island.

“There are, of course, many smaller protests made on the seat of power. Adrienne Carpenter wheeled a pram containing her dog Phoebe from Collector to Canberra in 2019 to rally for press freedom and climate change.”

Mike says the COVID-19 pandemic changed the protest scene in Canberra forever.

“Plenty of placards remained but large flags were unfurled in abundance,” he says.

“A relatively new concept of fluoro signwritten, old Holden station wagons making a wide range of conspiracy claims, which became the core of an emerging mob of skeptics we now know as Sovereign Citizens.

“The more radical of this radical mob even camped in Canberra for several months after the rally, causing serious headaches for the AFP.

“It seemed the angrier the crowd, the greater number of large flags was employed to drive home the message. And always directed at ‘those inside that building up there’, even when parliament wasn’t sitting!”

But being in the middle of protests with unpredictable people must bring some personal risks?

“I never felt unsafe or threatened until the anti-vaxxer’s march in February 2022,” Mike says.

“I stood out that day, being one of a very few – mostly media and police – wearing a mask, but because I had a camera slung around my neck I may have avoided the serious mob violence, which had been creeping into protests.

Mike says the most memorable of all the protests he’s seen over 16 years of photographing social history was the March for Justice on International Women’s Day 2021, when the lawns of Parliament House filled almost to capacity with irate protesters, angry at the way Brittany Higgins was treated after alleging rape by a fellow staffer in Parliament House. 

“Star power was at every turn, with the controversial TV host Lisa Wilkinson taking centre stage,” says Mike.

“Anthony Albanese was even spotted in the crowd, along with other opposition front benchers, urging PM Scott Morrison, who was not in attendance, to ‘listen to women’.”

Mike says protests, particularly recent Pro-Palestine rallies, have taken on a vastly more dangerous complexion for marchers.

“There seems to be a stronger resolve among participants to double down on their efforts,” Mike says.

And favourite photos? 

“Mine is of the silent performance activist troupe, the Red Rebels, lined up at the National Day of Action Pro Palestine rally in July 2025,” says Mike.

“I also love the picture I got at the rally calling for the removal of children and their families from indefinite detention on Nauru in 2018. I noticed a cute dog in the throng and asked the man holding its lead if it was okay to take a photo. The dog’s master, rock legend Jimmy Barnes, happily said yes.”