Thousands of animal rights activists have caused traffic chaos across Australian capital cities as part of a large and co-ordinated mass protest.
Vigilantes brought parts of Melbourne to a standstill on Monday morning, with 'the largest protest the world has ever seen' still planned at slaughterhouses and businesses in Brisbane and Hobart.
Hundreds have gathered at Flinders Street in the Victorian capital, with vans parked on the road and blocking lanes of traffic.
Police are on site and motorists are being urged to allow extra time for travel.
'A protest currently underway in the CBD has the Flinders Street Swanston Street intersection blocked,' VicRoads said.
Around 5am, dozens of activists chained themselves to machinery at Carey Bros Abattoir at Yangan in remote Queensland and demanded the release of three lambs.
Vigilantes have already brought parts of Melbourne to a standstill with 'the largest proest the world has ever seen' planned for other cities like Brisbane
After a lengthy two hours and negotiations, the vigilantes were escorted off the property.
'It was pretty much what was expected,' one of the protesters told https://twitter.com/mackenzieravn/status/1114994878411235328.
'The workers came in, they called the police, they called the manager and we negotiated this end result.'
Many more protests have been planned across Queensland farms and an undisclosed location in Brisbane.
The animal rights vigilantes have been tight-lipped about their targets across Queensland in a bid to reduce the chances of intervention.
A Facebook event titled Dominion Anniversary Action has 224 people going and 652 interested in the Brisbane protest.
'Make sure your fuel tanks are full. We hope that you can join us to make this the biggest animal rights direct action the world has ever seen,' the post read.
Listeners have already called into 3AW and reported similar scenes of chaos at Laverton and Pakenham South abattoirs and in Goulburn and Toowoomba.
The CFA is supporting police to free activists who have chained themselves to a truck in Pakenham with authorities monitoring the rallies elsewhere.
'It's causing quite the headache for people,' Public Transport Victoria's Georgia Main told 3AW on the protest in Melbourne.
CBD protesters are holding signs that say: "This is a peaceful protest" and "SOS animal emergency climate emergency".
Vans draped in black and emblazoned with the web address of a vegan documentary, are parked in the middle of the intersection.
In the city, some trams have stopped running while others are being diverted. Commuters are being told to consider the city loop train as an alternative.
Victoria Police said it's monitoring the protest to ensure it is peaceful.
"It is understood protesters have blocked the intersection of Flinders and Swanston streets using vehicles, which a small number have chained themselves to," they said in a statement.
"The safety of the community is our number one priority."
"Victoria Police respects people's right to protest peacefully but will not tolerate any anti-social behaviour or violence.
The timing of the protests coincides with the one-year anniversary release of Dominion, an anti-farming documentary loved by vegans.
Scott Morrison has admonished as 'un-Australian' the animal activists behind a controversial map of farmers' addresses and contact details.
The prime minister has
