John G
A few hundred students and some friends
protested Commonwealth increases to University fees for non-STEM courses and
other issues at Sydney University on Saturday 10 October. They were chanting
and waving banners at their most assertive.
Many if not most wore masks. Some effort
and some lack of success at keeping distance was in evidence.
Dozens of police including 4 mounted and
several police vehicles trailed the demonstration without interfering for about
half an hour. When the protest halted as they arrived at the Parramatta Road
Uni entrance gates, Police attacked protesters. They seized megaphones and
posters. Police grabbed a number of protesters and issued heavy on-the-spot
fines.
The people fined were arrested. Many were
grabbed and forced violently to the ground with police sweeping their legs from
under them, dropping them to their knees if not to their stomachs. Police
imposed themselves on the protesters violently.
Why the Police attack on protest?
It was not for breaching COVID
restrictions. After all, thousands upon thousands of Sydneysiders are gathering
every day at shopping centres, on beaches and often in pubs and football arenas
in queues getting within 1 ½ metres of others, casually breaching Public Health
Orders.
Police daily exercise their discretion in
numerous social settings on distancing rules.
However aggressive police action and violent arrests and heavy fines are
becoming the COVID normal in response to protests. There is little discretion
exercised in relation to protests. At this rate, it will not be long before
repeat protesters will be facing gaol.
Police aggression is also the norm in
relation to gatherings of young people in working class districts in Sydney and
Melbourne. A bit more discretion has generally been exercised in these cases
but it also serves to COVID normalise police aggression in circles of young
people.
This is developing resistance. It warrants
serious examination and responses.
There is widespread support of measures to secure
community safety from the Covid-19 pandemic. Many if not most COVID health
restrictions are important measures to make and keep communities safe from
illness and death caused by the Covid-19 virus. In the environment of some
inexperience with this disease, there are uncertainties and debate about the
range of correct responses to suppress the transmission of the virus. That
uncertainty does not excuse rejection of COVID safety measures.
Police and their government commanders rely
on the widespread support of COVID safety measures to evoke division in the
community over struggle against hardships, exploitation and oppression.
Support of COVID health restrictions does
not exclude support for public exercise of political rights, nor require people
to abandon the nobbled democratic rights people have within capitalist rule. Epidemiologists
and the World Health Organisation advocate proportional actions to suppress the
virus, not fascist dictates in response to the pandemic.
The Authorities fear people rebelling
over hardships
Early in the pandemic, many activists
involved in providing support for communities suffering deprivations due to
shutdowns and lockdowns, including charities and foodbanks, came across grave
paranoia amongst government bureaucrats and police. They expressed fear of
civil unrest erupting in response to disruption of incomes and restriction of supplies
of household necessities.
Unprecedented moves were made by
governments and other authorities to secure household incomes and the supply of
necessities to the great majority in the community, even while some minorities
were abandoned to their own devices, homelessness, reliance on handouts of food
and finance from charities, family and friends.
Tens of billions were committed and spent
by government to provide income and ensure supply lines to the majority. Hundreds
of millions were provided to bankers to suspend mortgage payments and stave off
evictions. Supermarkets were engaged to ration some supplies like meats,
sanitisers and toilet paper, among others, to ensure supplies were spread
across the community and that large number were not left without basic food and
sanitary products. Emergency home delivery arrangements were subsidised by
government.
As incomes, housing and supply of household
necessities have been somewhat secured, the paranoia of the authorities starts
to dissipate.
Governments reducedJobkeeper and Jobseeker payments, reimposed assets tests, removed
moratoria on evictions, and restored mortgage payments. It reveals the ruling
class’s confidence in starting to load the burden of the COVID economic crisis
onto the people.
At the same time, the Federal government in
particular, is moving to open the population to greater but “manageable” harm
from the pandemic. They turn from supporting and protecting people to head off
revolt, to now imposing the burden on people to free up capital and stem the
bleeding of finances to people’s welfare.
On two fronts, economic and health, they
are acting to load the people with the burden of both crises.
Unleashing hardship, deprivation and even
sickness and death on people triggers resistance and revolt. It is a great
compliment to Australians that the ruling class is finding it necessary to
build violent suppression of resistance into their COVID response.
People rise against the hardships. They
rebel against oppression of their protests.
The ruling class knows it and is preparing.
The people are learning how important and necessary their rebellion is.
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