Hundreds of demonstrators disrupted traffic for five hours around Sydney today in a protest ahead of a meeting of world trade ministers.
Sydney police arrested 15 campaigners and one journalist was rushed to hospital after being trampled by mounted police as they charged their horses into a crowd, officials said.
Police superintendent Mr Glen Harrison said police had acted in a restrained and professional manner despite "a certain element intent on causing disruption and violence".
However some of the demonstrators, who were advocating a peaceful protest, criticised police for their "heavy-handed" tactics.
Police had banned all demonstrations in the city ahead of the two-day World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting starting later today.
But there were no attempts to halt the protest, which saw more than 1,000 people parade through the city centre, past buildings housing the US consulate, major businesses and multinational retail outlets.
An American flag was set alight near the US consulate and cardboard cut-outs of the dollar sign were burned outside a McDonald's outlet.
AFP