Marce Cameron, Brisbane
An alliance of progressive organisations is planning a peaceful rally and march at PM John Howard's official election campaign launch on September 26. This will be one week before the national pre-election "End the lies" rallies on October 2-3.
An organising meeting called by the Queensland Greens on September 8 was attended by representatives of Just Peace, Friends of the Earth, the Wilderness Society, the Brisbane Anti-Bases Group, Rally for Peace, the Indigenous community, student unions and the Socialist Alliance.
The meeting set "End the lies, Howard out" and "Rally for truth" as the themes, appealing to all those who oppose the Howard government to join a diverse and colourful mass march.
Greens Senator Bob Brown urged people to attend the protest. He told Green Left Weekly that "a key part of democracy is the peaceful demonstration of different ideas, and people are involved in that just as much as the politicians. Howard said he'd be there for all of us, but he's only been there for some of them, for the big end of town in particular. The big day is October 9 [polling day] but in the meantime everyone's voices should be heard."
Prominent Aboriginal community leader and Socialist Alliance Senate candidate in Queensland, Sam Watson, will address the September 26 rally. He told GLW that "John Howard must answer for lying to the Australian people. He must be held accountable not only at the ballot box but in the parliament of the streets as well."
According to Watson, three years after the "children overboard" scandal, "millions of Australians have had a gutful of this government's lies and deception on asylum seekers, the plight of Indigenous people, East Timor's oil, on climate change and many other things."
"The biggest lie of all was Howard's claim that Australia's participation in the brutal invasion and occupation of Iraq was justified, and that the US and its allies are waging a so-called war on terrorism by bombing innocent people in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere", said Watson.
In a cheeky reference to one of Howard's own Liberal Party parliamentarians describing the PM as a "lying rodent", some activists plan to march in rat bodysuits.
It was also suggested that Aboriginal community elders present the PM with a traditional message stick and an eviction notice. Watson called on Howard to "vacate the Lodge to make room for asylum seekers who are locked up in detention centres".
Watson also called on the Murri Indigenous community to mobilise against Howard on September 26: "It's time for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to honour the sacrifices of generations of our elders who fought in decades past for our right to vote and for our right to stand up and be part of the national political process.
"We need to come together across our communities and join with this sleeping mass movement to say that we want no more of the Howard regime, that it's time for us to take out the garbage. The 'End the lies' marches are an opportunity for Australians to take back control of our political destiny from the politicians who have attempted to walk all over our rights for the past eight years."
The starting time and venue of the September 26 march will be posted on http://www.endthelies.net. On October 3, a "Time for a change" rally will be held here to coincide with the "End the lies" rallies in other states.
[Marce Cameron is a Queensland convenor of the Socialist Alliance.]
From Green Left Weekly, September 15, 2004.
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