[The following is a joint statement by the Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance on the August 19 events at Parliament House.]
The media chorus of condemnation of the August 19 incident at Parliament House is absolutely hypocritical.
The violence that the Howard government is about to do to the living standards of working people, students, migrants and Aboriginal people is infinitely greater than the damage done to the parliamentary souvenir shop. That can be repaired in a day, but Howard and Reith's budget will wreck the lives of many Australians for years to come.
Indeed, the manufactured hysteria about "assaults on democracy" is being used by the media and the government as an excuse for burying what really happened on August 19 and why it happened.
What really happened
The march from old Parliament House — composed of the Aboriginal contingent, CFMEU members and migrant workers — arrived and found itself blocked off from the rest of the rally and abandoned on the road. There were no union marshals or police guiding people into the main body of the rally. As a result, most of the crowd just headed for the front doors of Parliament House. At that stage the police ran ahead and barricaded the front doors.
While this was happening, many other protesters hung their banners over the walls alongside the parliamentary forecourt and over the balconies above the entrance to parliament. This attracted the attention of the rest of the rally, and after a short period a clear majority had moved up into the forecourt, leaving a minority to listen to the official platform.
The police decision to block access to parliament infuriated the protesters, who began to chant, "Let us into our house". Had this been allowed, the probability is that there would have been an angry protest inside, but none of the damage that resulted from the police decision to bar the entrance. Indeed, on the same day protesters in Darwin marched into the Northern Territory House of Assembly, had an "open mike" speak-out, and then left.
The police decision meant that a clash was inevitable. Eventually the first set of doors was opened and a window to the side smashed, which led the way into the parliamentary souvenir shop. The crowd then surged forward into the shop. Several people shouted, "Don't steal anything, we're just trying to find a way through".
The front door of the souvenir shop was then smashed and police with helmets and shields began a baton charge on the demonstrators. At this stage there appeared to be a stalemate, and the focus of the demonstration returned to the front doors.
More and more people were gathering at the front doors and after an hour of surging forward and being pushed back, the police forced everyone back in front of the doors. It was during this period that many demonstrators were led away with broken noses, cut eyes and gashes from batons. Aside from some paint and a few placards which were thrown at the police, the demonstrators did not appear to have any weapons.
Why it happened
What caused the clash? In pre-rally discussions between the ACT Trades and Labor Council and the Federal Police, it was agreed that the CFMEU-Aboriginal-migrant march would go along Federal Mall, a route which would have led directly to the rally. The police, however, decided to send this march via Commonwealth Avenue, a route that took it behind the rally and directly into the parliamentary forecourt.
But a more important factor is the gulf between the ACTU organisers of the rally and the sentiments of most rally participants. They didn't want to be just a passive audience for politicians telling everyone what they already knew — that Howard is a liar. They wanted action, even if this had only been a march of the whole rally.
At a deeper level, incidents like August 19 are the inevitable product of ACTU refusal to lead a meaningful fight against Howard's budget and industrial legislation. The ACTU strategy of "mass lobbying" of the Democrats to amend the worst aspects of Reith's industrial relations law gives participants no role except that of lobby "fodder".
Despite numerous appeals from rank-and-file unionists and resolutions carried by all-union delegates' meetings in the weeks before August 19, the ACTU refused to call a stoppage on the day. But the overwhelming feeling of workers at rallies like August 19 is one of being fed up with the unions' do-nothing performance under the 13 years of the Accord and seething for the unions finally to use their industrial strength to stop Howard and Reith.
Moreover, many workers won't feel too upset that someone has had the guts to treat the opulent symbol of official politics (and source of attacks on our living standards) with a little disrespect.
The more the ACTU tries to "fight" Howard with token rallies and lobbying of politicians, the more likely are such explosions of people's frustration and anger.