The Senate has passed proposed “security enhancements” to Parliament House which were introduced into both houses this morning, just as protestors descended on the building for another day.
Included in the proposal is a physical perimeter using fencing and landscaping, as well as replacements of framing and glazing on the northern, eastern and western entrances.
Approval of the works passed in the Senate just after midday, 53 votes to 9.
While reading out the improvements to security in the House of Representatives Speaker Tony Smith said there will also be additional bollards and polls installed for CCTV cameras.
The speaker tabled the changes in the House of Representatives today, with a similar motion to take place in the Senate, and the upgrades will be approved, providing there is no objection raised, after 14 days.
WATCH: Protesters shut down Question Time
“It’s important to acknowledge these works do have an impact on the original design intent of Parliament House, however, it’s also important to acknowledge the world has changed since the original design brief for Parliament House was created in the late 1970s,” Mr Smith said.
“The changes will not impede or change the way that the public enters the building. The public has always entered across the forecourt and through the front doors and they will continue to do so.”
Mr Smith said he wanted to address some “inaccurate” reporting of the proposed upgrades which were presented to the House on November 30, 2016, mainly, how the public will access the roof.
“Passing through screening and going up to the roof internally via the elevators. Let me dispel the myth that the public can walk right over the top of Parliament House: no one has been able to walk up the grass and over the top of Parliament House for 11 years,” he said.
The changes were officially flagged to the House of Representatives while protesters - the same group who shut down question time yesterday - returned to Parliament House, this time scaling the building's front wall.
The protestors unfurled a banner which read "Close the bloody camps now".
Security breach or democracy in action? Lots of competing views about the Parliament House protests. Interested in your thoughts @SBSNews pic.twitter.com/aVFK4D4ia5 — Daniela Ritorto (@danielaritorto) November 30, 2016
A dozen others have waded out into a pond in the complex's forecourt, holding placards with slogans such as "Justice for refugees".
Members of Whistleblowers Activists and Citizens Alliance have also turned the water feature into a bloody pool, representing deaths from turnbacks at sea, with signs reading 'Turnbacks Are Murder' and 'Blood On Your Hands'.
They say their latest action is a continuation of Thursday's interruption of the House of Representatives.
"We are here today to tell the Australian Parliament they are all complicit in the murder, rape, torture and child abuse of refugees," WACA spokesperson Kat Moore said.
"This is a state of emergency and a humanitarian crisis. "
The protesters says Manus Island, Nauru and Christmas Island are death camps and demanding every single person in offshore detention be evacuated immediately and the camps shut down.
Earlier, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he would never be convinced parliament's public galleries should be closed, despite Thursday's interruption.
"Incidents like this are regrettable and they will happen from time to time but people should not feel they are free to interfere with the parliament," he told Seven Network.
Protester Phil Evans said the group was ramping up their actions.
"We're here because all parliamentarians have become complicit in the torture, rape and abuse of refugees," he told AAP.
"We're calling for justice for the refugees and we're willing to put ourselves on the line in solidarity with them."
Police and security personnel have arrived at the forecourt.
Another protester Zianna Fuad said Thursday's action had been planned for a while.
"You should be expecting widespread protest until the camps are closed," she told reporters.
The two protesters who abseiled down the front of the building were experienced climbers.
"I actually think we've tried all our other avenues of civil debate," Ms Faud said.
The non-toxic dye represented a bloody pool.
"Turnbacks equal murder and when they say stop the boats this really means 'go die somewhere else'," she said.
The group said it wouldn't take responsibility if its protest led to tighter security at Parliament House.
If holding the space for as long as possible meant the group was arrested, that was what they were willing to risk, Ms Faud said.
"But it's not looking likely," she said.
Read the entire security review below:
With AAP
