Arrest them all and create a nightmare backlog in the local courts so real criminals cannot have court dates.
The Sydney police are bigger fools than the politicians.
People ultimately must give consent to be governed unless you plan to shoot all protestors. Even the old Soviet Union fell apart when enough people stopped the circus.
This illustrates that the police will follow orders, any orders.
The French police rounded up Jews For the Nazis.
People are really not taht different in America. There are plenty of little totalitarians; just look at those that appear on FR whenever someone dares criticize HOA rules or z” the Vax”.