DEMONSTRATORS throwing eggs, rocks and dye bombs at his Rolls-Royce were out in force when the governor general sir John Kerr came to Melbourne on wednesday night to be the guest of honor at a dinner of the royal commonwealth society. It was the first official visit sir John and lady Kerr had made to Melbourne since Whitlam's commission was withdrawn by Kerr last november and it provoked the most hostile demonstration against him since then:

   Although the Kerrs are not due to arrive until 8pm, a solid phalanx of demonstrators is gathered outside the RCS building an hour before. A thick forest of signs, placards and banners all reinforce the one message: sir John Kerr is disliked. Slogans include: They shoot GGs dont they?; Stay out of politics Kerr; and Heil Kerr the distempered wretch. Deflowerer of democracy.

   But the crowd appears to be in a happy mood and join a demonstrator as he chants through a loudhailer: "If you hate the governor general, clap your hands,"

   This litany is suddenly interrupted when another voice in the crowd calls: "Norman Gunston for governor general." By this time there are four Victoria police in uniform, what appear to be four plainclothes police at the main door of the royal commonwealth society and another six police at the front gate.

   At 7.27 the crowd has grown to around 700. It becomes restive as four police horses are ridden into demonstrators standing out on Queens road, partly blocking the traffic flow. The crowd backs off very quickly. Some of them are old enough  to  remember the Springbok tour and the LBJ demonstrations and know how dangerous these horses can be.

   Immediately after this operation warms up the horses, police cars are parked at either end of the block to divert all through traffic away from the area.

   Two cars attempting to drive down Queens road with dinner guests are forced to stop by two demonstrators lying down on the road. The guests are forced to walk through the demonstrators to a cacophony of boos and hisses. Dye and eggs are thrown.

   Right on 8pm the governor general's car approaches in the rain. It is led by two motocycle police and is surrounded on the other three sides by at least 25 uniformed police, men and women. As the car meets the outer edge of the crowd the mounted police start riding hard in an attempt to force a path through the demonstrators, who now completely cover Queens road.

   Paint, eggs, stones and an acrid smokebomb are thrown at the vice regal Rolls-Royce. One of the police horses shies and in backing away from the smoke pushes over one of the motorbikes and its rider. Fists are swinging. More smokebombs are thrown.

   Suddenly a young man jumps on the roof of the Rolls-Royce. Balancing precariously, he starts banging the windscreen with a loudhailer. The noise he makes is deafening. A moment later he's lifted from the car roof and appears to vanish in the crowd. Several others throw themselves on the car bonnet.

   The police are slowly trying to drive a wedge through the demonstrators to the main gate but superiority of numbers and dogged determination are with the crowd. The shouting and chanting is deafening. The air is stinking and there's an undercurrent of panic as the horses force the demonstrators back to the footpath. Only swift sidestepping keeps them from under the horses flaying hooves.

   Sir John and lady Kerr look shaken as their car is forced to move down Queens road past the royal historical society. One of the car's windows has been smashed during the melee and Kerr's aide, who is sitting alongside the chauffeur, has cuts to the face.

   As the car retreats into the dark, the crowd starts chanting again and calls are made for assistance in identifying two men arrested.

   A few minutes later word goes round that sir John and lady Kerr have been forced to enter the building from the tradesmens entrance around the block off Queens lane.

   During the dinner the demonstrators keep chanting: "Sack Kerr . . ." "Yankee traitor . . ." and "Kerr, Kerr . . . sleazy Kerr".

   By 9pm the crowd is thinning out but there are still 54 uniformed police in front of the royal commonwealth society and at least another 12 who appear to be in plain clothes.

   Before the crowd disperses it's announced that sir John invites them to join him again for dinner on june 21, when he will be attending a law society dinner at the Leonda restaurant in Wallan road, Hawthorn.