Under the headline “Murdoch supports May Day — Oh yeah!”, Rob Gowland wrote in the May 2 edition of the Guardian, weekly paper of the Communist Party of Australia:
“On Friday, April 27, The Australian, flagship of the Murdoch press and a paper not noted for any left-wing bias, devoted about two-thirds of a page to an article by Margot Denney promoting the M1 blockade of the Stock Exchange on Tuesday May 1.
“The Sydney Sun-Herald over the weekend and the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday (April 30) followed up with substantial articles on the M1 preparations at the headquarters of the Democratic Socialist Party.
“Not a single solitary word is said in the latter articles about the M1 demonstration that is being organised by the Global Action Coalition or the traditional May Day march to take place on Sunday, May 6 in Sydney.
“And what promoted large colour photos, very sympathetic (there was not a hostile paragraph in The Australian coverage and only one that was even critical), interviews with several activists, and the inevitable plug for the Trotskyist Green Left Weekly...
“Although the M1 blockade is clearly a divisive rival to the traditional May Day activities, The Australian endeavoured to put a positive spin on it...
“Those who follow the DSP, Resistance and Green Left Weekly banner in blockading the Stock Exchange on May 1 should ask themselves why the capitalist media has given such lavish free publicity...”
