PROTESTERS turned an innovation forum into a farce when they descended on Oscar's yesterday.
Animal Liberation Victoria protesters delayed the start of the forum, involving former ALP leader Simon Crean, for nearly an hour.
One protester was also evicted for interrupting the forum.
Using a megaphone, whistles, bells and their voices, the protesters could clearly be heard as the forum got underway.
ALV member Ivana Moretti was ejected just minutes after the start for complaining about Ballarat City Council's failure to prosecute Learmonth puppy farm owner Dr Ron Wells.
Her complaints were directed at council chief executive officer Richard Hancock, chairing the forum.
"They were talking about democracy," Ms Moretti said.
"It's not very democratic to not allow people into a meeting which is open to the public."
Mr Hancock warned Ms Moretti to stop interrupting, and he had her removed when she continued.
Laughing off the situation, Mr Hancock told the audience "you cannot really pay for that type of entertainment".
Five police officers spent more than two hours monitoring the situation. Sergeant Brett Caddy said the protesters were noisy, but exercising their rights.
"They didn't cause us any problems," Sgt Caddy said.
Protesters threw themselves at Ballarat Mayor David Vendy's feet when he arrived about 1.30pm.
Sgt Caddy the confrontation was "short and sweet".
"They got a bit agitated," he said. "They certainly didn't do anything illegal from our perspective."
Six panelists, Mr Hancock, Ballarat MHR Catherine King, a member of her staff and a man from Mr Crean's office attended, along with seven members of the public.
The forum was free to the public and was moved to Oscar's after the protesters threatened to hijack the original Town Hall venue.
Mr Crean also joked about the situation as he competed with the crowd to get his message across.
"I'm delighted the strategy of moving from the Town Hall worked," he said.
"They are not protesting against me, I'm just one of the lightning rods who happened to come along."
Ms Moretti, from Clifton Hill in Melbourne, said she was determined to get her point across despite the threat of eviction.
"I wanted the CEO to explain to Mr Crean why businesses are allowed to operate illegally," she said.
ALV campaign manager Debra Tranter said the group targeted Mr Crean in the hope he could aid their fight.
"We want to let Simon Crean know that there is a former Liberal Party politician (Dr Ron Wells) that has been owning and operating an illegal business in Ballarat," Ms Tranter said.
"This forum is about promoting businesses in Ballarat so the message today is if you want to own and operate an illegal business, come to Ballarat because you will get away with it."
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