The Socialist Alliance, NSW Greens, Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance, International Socialist Organisation, Socialist Alternative, Refugee Action Collective, Free the Refugees Campaign, Sydney People Against a New Nuclear Reactor, Wilderness society, PNG Solidarity, Action in Solidarity with Asia-Pacific, Unions WA, Wilderness Society, Maritime Union of Australia, MUA, Aidwatch, Campaign Against Racism and Homophobia, Aboriginal Tent Embassy, ACT RAC, radio station 2XX, Socialist Alliance, the Democratic Socialist Party, Resistance, Socialist Worker, Socialist Alternative ">
M1 protests war on refugees
BY SUE BULL
& SEAN HEALY
Campaigners for refugees' rights, militant trade unionists, anti-war activists and supporters of the Palestinian people's struggle for freedom are preparing to converge in cities across the country for big protests and other actions on May 1, the traditional day of international workers' solidarity. Activists will demand an end to the wars being waged by governments and big business on refugees, the people of the Third World, workers and their trade unions, Indigenous people and the environment.
In Melbourne, activists are already busy tracking down chicken wire behind which they will symbolically "detain" the offices of the immigration department. Others are talking to the trade unions, migrant communities and the many people active in local and international campaigns in an effort to build an M1 demonstration that will be even bigger than last year's.
A community blockade and picket will be established around the Casselden Place building which houses the immigration department and other federal government offices, including the notorious Department of Workplace Relations that enforces Canberra's anti-worker industrial laws. A "wall of opposition to war and racism" will be unrolled.
The major focus of the action will be opposition to the massive injustices inflicted on asylum seekers. Protesters will take part in acts of peaceful civil disobedience to highlight the Australian government's cruel and hypocritical treatment of people whose only crime is to escape persecution. The demand to close the detention centres, whether in the remote deserts or in the major cities, will be loudly delivered.
It is hoped that a first-hand account of the Easter protests outside the Woomera and other detention centres will be a feature of the speakers' platform. Certainly, the Woomera Defence Campaign will be asked to speak.
Already, Melbourne's M1 has been endorsed by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), the Electrical Trades Union, Refugee Action Collective (RAC), Friends of the Earth and Australia Asia Worker Links.
The trade unions will amass at Trades Hall and outside the Arts Centre, before marching to the Casselden Place blockade. They will march behind a banner that reads, "May Day 2002 — Let's Build a Better World". On arrival, they will express their solidarity with the campaign to free the refugees.
A "unity march" will then wind its way through the city's streets led by members of the building workers' unions, which are under massive attack by the federal government's royal commission into the construction industry.
The marchers will stop outside the Nike superstore in Bourke Street, which has become the symbol of international capitalist exploitation of working people in the Third World, before making their way along Collins Street to the royal commission building.
Throughout the day's activities, there will be plenty of opportunities for activists from all the campaigns against capitalist exploitation and US and Australian imperialism to get a hearing.
Representatives of the Palestinian community will have a prominent position on the speakers' platform and in the march and blockade. Opposition to the US and Britain's plans to attack Iraq will also have a high profile.
The CFMEU, which has been perhaps one of the most enthusiastic M1 participants, hopes the alliances that have been formed to organise M1 can rebuild May Day and make it an annual event of protest and solidarity.
In Sydney, Australasian Correctional Management (ACM), the company which runs Australia's refugee detention centres, will be among the principal targets for M1 actions.
In what is likely to be an angry protest against ACM guards' often brutal treatment of jailed asylum seekers, demonstrators will blockade the ACM's Market Street offices, in central Sydney from 8am. Protest organisers will defy any police orders to cease their civil disobedience.
A wide range of refugee and civil liberties groups, including Justice Action, Free the Refugees Campaign and Labor for Refugees have been invited to build the protest and provide speakers.
Protesters will not limit their demands to an end to ACM's mistreatment of asylum seekers, but will insist on the complete closure of all refugee detention centres.
M1 Alliance spokesperson Zanny Begg told Green Left Weekly that "ACM is a symbol for what we see as the essence of the modern multinational corporation: it makes its money — and a lot of money at that— out of people's misery. The wealthier it gets, the more powerful it gets, the worse it becomes for those unlucky enough to get caught in its path."
Begg said that the M1 protest will seek to link particular injustices, like those perpetrated by ACM, to a larger problem of a world run by and for giant capitalist corporations who profit from those injustices.
M1 will also project a vision for a better society. "The theme we chose for M1 this year is 'A different world is possible'. What we are trying to do is not just say what we're against but also what we're for. We're not just an opposition movement; we do have a vision of how it could be much better."
M1's Sydney organisers have chosen "positive" themes for the action, Begg explained. "For example, what we want is a world in which refugees are welcome, in which Indigenous people have their land back, and in which the environment comes before corporate profits. We think by putting it that way, we'll be appealing to people's best hopes and not just their worst fears."
The blockade of ACM will be the focus during the morning, but there will also be actions organised by many different groups. At noon, protesters will gather in Martin Place, where the World Bank office is situated, for a "unity rally". Speakers there will include the Palestinian community, an Afghan refugee, the Wilderness Society, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), Aidwatch and the Campaign Against Racism and Homophobia.
A march through the CBD will protest outside Israel's consulate in York Street, the Australian Stock Exchange in Bridge Street and Prime Minister John Howard's office on Philip Street to emphasise the attacks on workers by the building industry royal commission. It will return to Martin Place via the US consulate.
Support for Sydney's M1 has come from Friends of Palestine, the MUA, the CFMEU, the Finance Sector Union, the AMWU Activist Network and the May Day committee. The Socialist Alliance, NSW Greens, Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance, International Socialist Organisation, Socialist Alternative, Refugee Action Collective, Free the Refugees Campaign, Sydney People Against a New Nuclear Reactor, Wilderness society, PNG Solidarity, Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific, and Action for World Development are all involved. Several student representative councils are assisting. University of Technology students are providing legal assistance and a medical team is being organised through Change Upton.
A Sydney M1 convergence will be held on April 29, 6.30pm, at UTS. Planning meetings are being held every Thursday 7pm at UTS.
In Perth, anti-corporate activists are gearing up for a "No War May Day". May 1 Alliance spokesperson Nikki Ulasowski told Green Left Weekly, "The world situation is sparking more and more interest in radical politics. Both the refugees' rights campaign and the mobilisations in solidarity with the Palestinian people are indicators of this. May 1 will be a crucial event to draw the issues together."
Organisers report that they have encountered "all sorts of manoeuvres" from the police, who are attempting to keep the march route as short as possible. "In some of the negotiations, they have wanted us to pay for barricades and road closures. The Perth council has asked us to pay for parking fees in the street where the stock exchange is located to cover 'lost expenditure'. The police have also told us that we need to apply to close Sherwood Court, where the Stock Exchange is. This involves a fee of $47 which could be rejected. If however, we pay another $100 on top that will guarantee the permit will pass in the event of any public objections!", Ulasowski said.
On April 9, a meeting of Unions WA voted to promote the May 1 protest.
M1 actions in Canberra will include a "justice tour", which will visit Liberal and Labor party offices, the National Australia Bank, the Defence Force Careers Reference Centre and the department of workplace relations. Speakers and symbolic actions will take place at each stop, highlighting the institutions' role in the wars on refugees and workers. Solidarity with the people of Palestine will also be a central theme.
The Canberra actions have been endorsed by the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, ACT RAC, radio station 2XX, Socialist Alliance, the Democratic Socialist Party, Resistance, Socialist Worker and Socialist Alternative. The rally will begin at 12.30pm in Garema Place, Civic.
Bill Mason in Brisbane told GLW that the M1 Alliance plans to blockade the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs office in Adelaide Street from 7.30am. A unity rally at 12.30pm in King George Square will be held.
The M1 Alliance meets 6.30pm every Monday at 74 Astor Terrace, Spring Hill.
In Darwin, an April 19 planning meeting attended by representatives of the Refugee Action Network, Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and the East Timor, the Socialist Alliance, Network Against Prohibition, the NTU Student Union and the Democratic Socialist Party decided to organise a day of protest against four "wars": on refugees, the Third World, workers and drugs.
After a morning action outside the Coonawarra refugee prison, protesters will rally at noon in Raintree Park to hear speakers and performers and make banners and puppets. At 4.30pm, the protesters will march to immigration department offices, the defence force recruiting centre, Trades Hall and the "justice" department.
From Green Left Weekly, April 24, 2002.
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