S11: This is What Democracy Looks Like
Produced by Jill Hickson and John Reynolds, Actively Radical TV, Sydney
Melbourne Rising
Produced by SKA TV, Melbourne
REVIEW BY SIMON BUTLER
The 20,000-strong blockade of the World Economic Forum's summit in Melbourne on September 11-13 signalled that Australia has truly become part of the international movement against neo-liberal globalisation.
S11 was a success not only because it united and radicalised a new generation of anti-capitalist campaigners, but also because it did this against concerted efforts from politicians, business leaders, police and the establishment media.
The mainstream media, in particular, went all out to discredit the blockaders. Their coverage of S11 seemed to have been written in advance of the event, and the photos inserted later.
Television coverage consistently showed police attacking protesters, but the accompanying commentary spoke only of riotous protesters attacking police. Daily newspapers, such as the Age, Herald Sun, Australian and Sydney Morning Herald promoted four broad lies: that the protesters were ignorant, violent and undemocratic; that the Victorian police were courageous, heroic and, if anything, far too lenient; the WEF is worthy of praise rather than protest; and globalisation is beneficial and unavoidable.
Columnist Jennifer Hewitt, in the September 12 Sydney Morning Herald, asked incredulously, "Didn't the S11 realise the delegates were ever so keen to talk about how to spread the benefits of globalisation fairly?". The Herald Sun's Terry McCrann opined on September 11, "In short and in sum there's going to be reason and knowledge inside Crown [Casino] this week ... and ignorance and anger outside".
But the argument that the 968 multinational corporations that are WEF members were meeting to try to solve poverty and exploitation was never going to be convincing. It was simply too unfeasible.
Therefore, the corporate media largely focused its attention on the supposed "violence" and lawlessness of the protesters.
Before the protests had even begun, the Herald Sun's Mark Buttler and Mark Dunn claimed that the protesters were "hell-bent on forcing their ill-considered views on others more enlightened" (September 9). In the September 12 Australian, editor-in-chief David Armstrong urged the police to intensify attacks on protesters, saying it was "police ineptitude" which resulted in the rights of forum delegates to be abrogated. The cover of the September 12 Herald Sun blurted "SHAMEFUL" (meaning the protesters) and reported how reluctant police were repeatedly "forced" to hit protesters with their batons and fists.
John Hamilton's piece in the September 13 Herald Sun was headed "A Salute to our Brave Force" and stated, "For two days and two nights [police] have stood in the cold, the wind and the rain, heckled, abused and provoked by some of the most loathsome protesters ever to beset a decent, democratic society".
Unfortunately for the Herald Sun, its photographs seemed largely to confirm the opposite. One picture (Herald Sun, September 13showed a protester cowering on the ground with his back to a police officer who had his arm raised and about to strike. The photo was captioned merely, "Police and a protester".
Another photo (Herald Sun, September 14) shows an unmarked police car driving over the top of a protester's leg. The accompanying article states that "the police officers did not realise they had hit the demonstrator".
These attempts to discredit and falsify the protesters are hardly surprising; the owners of Australia's mass media are members of the same exploitative class that the S11 protests were directed against.
Anybody who wants to know the facts and judge for themselves has to turn to alternative, independent media, such as Green Left Weekly and two independently produced films on the S11 blockade: S11: This is What Democracy Looks Like from Actively Radical TV and Melbourne Rising from SKA TV.
This is What Democracy Looks Like clearly presents the politics behind the S11 protests. It is an antidote to the obfuscation and distortions of the capitalist press.
Protesters explain that the transnationals represented at the forum secure and increase their profits by ravaging the environment, exploiting the labour of the Third World and driving down wages, conditions and job security in the developed countries — a message which never got a run in the mainstream media.
The film shows the blockade to be a powerful example of mass democracy on the streets. On the first morning, thousands of people gathered in the rain and peacefully linked arms in front of all the entrances to Crown Casino. Contrary to the frenzied claims of mainstream journalists, This is What Democracy Looks Like demonstrates the protesters' overwhelming commitment to a peaceful, non-violent blockade.
When the police attempted to break through blockade points, protesters chanted "No violence, no violence" and "Peaceful protest, peaceful police" in an attempt to defuse the situation. It rarely worked. One police attack alone resulted in 30 protesters being hospitalised. The film shows that the violence at S11 was routinely and purposefully initiated by the police.
However, the protest was not solely defined by police aggression. For most people, the protest was fun and exhilarating, a carnival of music, dancing, speakers, puppets and clowns.
The S11 protests were striking for their diversity: it was the first time in a long time that trade unionists, environmentalists, socialists, anarchists, feminists, high school students and community groups joined together and made their stand against a common enemy.
"This protest has brought real democracy to Melbourne", said an interviewee in the film. Tim Gooden, a construction worker, unionist and Democratic Socialist Party activist, is filmed telling the September 12 union rally, "This is all of ours and we want it back. Keep fighting forever!"
SKA TV's Melbourne Rising documents some of the most brutal and vicious behaviour of the Victorian police during the three-day blockade. It too reveals that there was no provocation by protesters, other than peacefully linking arms and asserting their right to protest.
The film shows police illegally removing their identification badges so they could assault protesters without risking prosecution.
Melbourne Rising documents some of the inspiring successes of the protest, including the victory parade on S13 when the entire blockade marched through the centre of Melbourne carrying huge puppets, placards and flags. Protesters then linked hands and formed a human chain, encircling the huge Crown Casino complex.
The film also captures an impromptu indigenous rights rally held around a car carrying Western Australian Premier Richard Court into the casino. Court had attempted to drive through the protesters' blockade point. The chant of "End mandatory sentencing! Land rights now!" rises to a crescendo as Court sits graven-faced in his besieged car.
This is What Democracy Looks Like and Melbourne Rising are both screening around the country this month. For details of the showings being organised by Resistance in many cities, see the advertisement on page 4.