Former Australian athlete Megan Marcks ( C ) carries the Olympic flame in Canberra , Australia on 24 April 2008 . Canberra is the host of the only Australian leg of the International torch relay for the Beijing Olympics . Several people have been arrested as the Canberra leg of the beleaguered Beijing torch relay kicked off Thursday at Lake Burley Griffin . A barrage of projectiles , including water bottles , have been thrown as pro - China and pro - Tibet demonstrators clash even as an intense security cordon and steel barricade on the 16 - kilometre route of the relay turns the capital into a forbidden city . ' Free Tibet ' is written in the sky . EPA / PAUL MILLER AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT < 저작권자 ⓒ 2007 연 합 뉴 스 . 무단 전재 - 재 배포 금지 . >