So they should.

Political affiliation aside, such action against the role of the Prime Minister of Australia should not be tolerated. The office demands respect and there was none of that in Canberra on Thursday.

It’s encouraging to hear the Australian Federal Police is investigating the incident. It’s also heartening to hear Canberra Tent Embassy founder Michael Anderson promise troublemakers would be excluded from the group.

This isn’t about stopping the right of people to protest causes they see as unjust, it’s about setting boundaries for such protests.

If these protesters thought Thursday’s effort would gain publicity for their cause, it’s backfired spectacularly. If anything, the images splashed across news services and in print will further alienate them from the general public.

While some Aboriginal leaders yesterday expressed disgust at the actions of what they call a ‘splinter group’, others have failed to see the error of their ways.

Images of Aboriginal protesters holding up Julia Gillard’s lost shoe for pictures were ridiculous. Talk of placing the shoe on eBay simply made a bad situation worse. Would it not have been far better to just give the shoe back?

Footage of protesters burning the Australian flag yesterday was appalling.

Julia Gillard was 100 per cent right in saying her anger over yesterday’s protest was because of the significance of the event being disrupted.

This event was recognising the heroic efforts of 26 people, including Bendigo policeman Todd Deary, during tragic events such as Queensland floods and the Black Saturday bushfires.

What a woeful performance by those who saw fit to turn that into an embarrassment for our nation.