An utter disgrace to claim “public safety” is the reason to shut down air traffic over Melbourne.

Here’s the official order from Air Services Australia.

Usually these things are used if lives are at risk or national security is on the line.

UPDATE - Jeff of FNQ tells us:

The coppers back flipped but as from tomorrow the media will require police permission before a helicopter, which is shared by Seven, Nine, ABC and Sky News, can take off.

They have also stated that any video taken cannot be live streamed bur must wait for 60 minutes before any video footage can be shown by the media