Peter Perkins, Sydney
February 25 marks a year since the Macquarie Fields "riots" which followed a police chase in which two teenagers died. For four days and nights, the suburb was locked down by police in a pitched battle with residents.
The corporate media and politicians have attempted to link the violence at Cronulla in December with the events at Macquarie Fields, claiming they are about youth "respect", "intolerance" and "thuggery". But there were no race issues in Macquarie Fields, only economic ones. The common bond between the Aboriginal, Arabic, Anglo, Pacific Islander and other youths who battled the police (and who had support from the community) was severe economic disadvantage and police harassment.
The Macquarie Fields riots were an attempt by these young people to regain some dignity. They stood up and said, "We're not taking this any more". Unfortunately, a year later, approximately 40 adolescents languish in jails around NSW — a reminder to others not to challenge the powers-that-be.
Residents had hopes that the spotlight on Macquarie Fields would lead to much needed community resources. Alas, politicians are not that easily embarrassed. State minister for infrastructure and planning Craig Knowles offered $9000 to restore some amenities. But this was insufficient to pay a community worker for three months, let alone provide resources!
Twelve months on there is a truce of sorts, although dignity is far from restored and despair and helplessness have returned. Drug addiction and mental illness are rampant, people are finding it hard to interact and, for some, fear and paranoia have overcome reason. A media-generated stigma hangs like a dark cloud over the suburb.
Essential services, such as drug and alcohol counselling, mental health, youth, sexual assault, poverty and disadvantage, are virtually non-existent.
Since the riots, there have been numerous police "clean-up" campaigns — some call it harassment — and, as could be expected, they have done little to placate simmering community resentment.
It seems that the police and politicians have learned nothing.
After last year's turbulence police were granted extraordinary powers of arrest and detention. Their association called for 200 police, up from 50, to be attached to the Public Order Riot Squad, which will be dedicated to dealing with "public discord". The police now have the power to declare a "civil disturbance" after which those who refuse to disperse will be guilty of an offence. They now have enhanced stop-and-search powers, including powers to search any person or vehicle in a declared area. They also have the power to confiscate vehicles travelling in a convoy and can initiate road closures.
These draconian measures have been made law by a NSW Labor government not wanting to be outdone by the Liberals on "law and order", with a particular focus on young people.
Following the Cronulla race riots, the laws have been extended to allow for the confiscation of motor vehicles and greater police lock-down powers (the same measures used in Macquarie Fields).
The government's housing policy is another tragedy. Despite the diminishing stock of public housing, bulldozers are devouring whole blocks which are then fenced off to await re-zoning. Many Macquarie Fields families are forced into sharing the remaining dwellings in the area, exacerbating the conflict and despair.
Campbelltown Lord Mayor Brenton Banfield has been most outspoken about the need to disperse the inhabitants of the poverty-stricken public estates (as if they were a disease) by knocking down their houses and handing the land to the private sector for redevelopment.
Some believe they have no power to stop this sort of thing and others believe that knocking everything down and starting again is the only way to solve the problems.
But the disturbing thing is that the inhabitants of Macquarie Fields have never been asked their opinion. There has been no consultation, no plans and no discussion about the long-term consequences of these changes. Politicians don't see the need to consult; they don't show their faces here. Instead, money is being funnelled into local church groups: with Nike shoes in one hand and bibles in the other, some believe that charity is the panacea for alleviating disadvantage and pacifying the restless.
Macquarie Fields residents are angry that after all the trauma from the riots and their aftermath, nothing has really changed. We are still not trusted to determine our own future, yet the only real solutions lie with us.
[Peter Perkins is a long-term resident of Macquarie Fields.]
From Green Left Weekly, February 15, 2006.
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