BY TAMARA PEARSON & SIMON TAYLER
SYDNEY — In a passionate show of defiance against police and media condemnation of militant protests, pro-refugee, anti-corporate and pro-Palestine activists converged on the Sydney offices of Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) at 7am on May Day, kicking off the second annual M1 protests.
ACM manages Australia's refugee prisons, and solidarity with the refugees was the focus of the morning protests. Five hundred protestors chanting "Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here" surrounded the building in a tight blockade.
The protest began high spirited and colourful — featuring street theatre, anti-corporate cheerleaders, costumes and rapping amplified by a sound system built into a wheelie bin. Speakers on the official platform received enthusiastic support as they denounced the racism of the Coalition government.
The protest was shadowed by a police contingent of more than 20 mounted police and hundreds of uniformed officers. Police had told protest organisers that they would be allowed to maintain their blockade without interference and initially police remained behind their barricades.
However, shortly after 10am the police launched the most vicious attack on protesters seen in Sydney in a number of years. First, officers tried to break through the blockade on a car park ramp, pushing protestors out onto the street and dragging people into the car park. When this failed to dislodge the protest, police horses suddenly charged into the crowd at high speed. Many were buffeted by the fast moving horses, and several protesters were stomped on.
Five protesters were taken to hospital with concussion and suspected broken bones, and another 30 were treated by first aid volunteers for bruises and abrasions. Among those hurt was a 12-year old in his school uniform and a 90-year-old man who had skin ripped off his arm. Police arrested more than 50 protesters, but only charged one.
Independent legal observers have described the actions of police as "unprovoked, excessive and dangerous". They recorded numerous incidents of unnecessary force used by police against protesters, including police using neck pressure holds, which are illegal.
In a letter to City East Police Commander Dick Adams, protester Thiago Oppermann condemned Adams' statement to the media that the action was necessary to "relieve police situated below protesters". Aside from the fact that police had access to stairs inside the car park, Opperman points out that the police could have simply locked the car park gate, in which case protesters would have left the area.
Other excuses offered by police to the media for the violence, and repeated by corporate outlets with glee, include the untrue claims that protesters tried to break through police lines and that police had to rescue other police who were "isolated". The silliest has been the circular argument that the police horses went in to rescue ... a fallen police horse!
While many protesters were shocked by the brutality shown by police, the mood was far from defeated. Rather, the incident highlighted the seriousness and defiance of the protesters. "What we saw today", a protester said from the megaphone, "is what happens to refugees in detention every day." The crowd erupted into whistles and cheers.
Protesters voted to maintain their blockade for a further hour before marching to Martin Place for a "unity rally" with trade unionists. Martin Place was targeted because is home to the offices of the World Bank and other major financial institutions involved in financing the plunder of workers around the world.
The crowd swelled up to 1200 as trade unionists joined the rally. Union speakers called for better pay and conditions and an end to mass layoffs. The rally also heard from solidarity activists who spoke about the role of financial institutions in perpetuating poverty in the Third World.
Leaving Martin Place, the rally marched to the Israeli consulate in York Street, chanting: "Free, free Palestine". Protesters staged a "die-in", and drew chalk outlines around their bodies to symbolise the hundreds of people killed by the Israeli military in it's armed occupation of Palestine.
The protest then moved onto the Sydney stock exchange, blockaded by last years M1 protests, and home to many of the world's worst corporate scumbags. Singing "I get knocked down, but I get up again, you ain't never going to keep me down", protesters jumped and danced while stockbrokers looked on, hidden behind a wall of police.
In high spirits, the march moved onto the prime ministers office to highlight and condemn John Howard's support for the so-called war on terrorism, mandatory detention and neo-liberal attacks on working people. Protesters burned an effigy of the prime minister, chanting "burn, Howard, burn".
After making a brief visit to state Parliament House, the protest returned to Martin Place for an anti-corporate concert. Lauren Carroll-Harris, from the M1 collective, urged people to stay active in the campaign against corporate globalisation, and to fight for a better world.
From Green Left Weekly, May 8, 2002.
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