'Get a life,' mayor tells protesters who disrupted Melbourne IPA dinner Picture: Andrew Tauber Source: Herald Sun MELBOURNE Lord Mayor Robert Doyle has described as "pissants" protesters who stormed his car last night, temporarily preventing him from entering the Institute of Public Affairs 70th anniversary dinner at the National Gallery of Victoria. About 100 protesters, many carrying Socialist Alternative endorsed "eat the rich" and "democracy not Murdoch-racy" placards, attacked Cr Doyle's car outside the dinner attended by politicians and business and community leaders, including Opposition leader Tony Abbott, Cardinal George Pell, and mining magnate Gina Rinehart. The dinner's keynote address was given by Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, ultimate publisher of The Australian. Cr Doyle's driver was forced to drive away from the protesters, returning around 45 minutes later to deliver Cr Doyle to the dinner without incident. The tyres on Cr Doyle's car were let down, but it was otherwise undamaged. "I've been in public life too long to let pissants like that worry me," Cr Doyle told a press conference this morning, describing the scene as "ugly." "Anyone's got the right to protest in our city and make their point, but I don't think the way to go about it is to surround a car, jump up and down on the bonnet, stand on the roof, sit on the roof and smash your heels against the windshield and have the mob surround the car hammering on all the windows," he said. Cr Doyle said he had the "highest praise" for police handling of the incident, and had rung Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay this morning to thank him. Asked whether he may have been deliberately targeted after clashes with protesters during last year's Occupy Melbourne protests, Cr Doyle said it wasn't clear who the protesters were or what point they were trying to make. Who would know? I mean they were carrying placards that said, 'eat the rich'. Well I'm not rich, but I reckon I'd make a meal for a fair few of them," he said. Cr Doyle said arresting the protesters would have risked giving them undeserved status. These were people who weren't making any legitimate political point. They were actually just giving this mindless shriek of rage against something, so to make martyrs of them I think would have been the wrong thing to do. He told the protesters to "get a life." Go away. Let us get on with the life of Melbourne and go and find something to occupy yourselves," he said. Cr Doyle said he had enjoyed the rest of the evening, describing Mr Murdoch's speech as "very interesting" and the gathering as "very important." "I think we do need that intellectual life and that higher conversation about public matters and political matters, and the IPA has been doing that for 70 years," Cr Doyle said.