We knew there were at least two protests scheduled today at Parliament House, but it turned out there was a whole lot more going on in the nuthouse that is Federation Mall.
What follows boys and girls are a few of the reasons why the people who actually work in the big house on the hill have their own private entrances around the back of the building.
First up was the protest against IR reforms. Their press release promised a mock sweatshop, which I though sounded promisingly photogenic. When I turned up at quarter to ten (it was due to finish at 10am), there were two other photographers there taking pictures of the “sweatshop”, and I just managed to get this one in before they disbanded.
Yes, that’s right, that single sewing machine in the bottom right corner is all there was. I was thoroughly disappointed; I would have thought all 11 of the people there could have gotten involved too. Anyway, once I established my credentials (“Tell me again what this riot thing is?”), they gave me my own photo op.
The banners they’re holding here were mounted on posts stuck into the ground, but they decided to move them around to face the other way for my photo. Just as they were taking them down, one of the Protective Services officers who had been lurking on the side came over and said he had forgotten to tell them before that they weren’t allowed to erect anything on Commonwealth land (I think) and that they would have to hold the banners.
The other thing I noticed this morning was the mobile blood bank had taken up residence on the forecourt of Parliament House, thus ruining the vista for all tourists. It was suggested that possibly the politicians had requested the van go there to block out the plethora of protests.
As I was leaving from this first visit, I noticed some more protestors arriving with wooden billboards. These turned out to be the Falun Gong protestors, which may partly explain why I had a petition/form letter to Alexander Downer about the practitioners shoved into my hands at the IR protest. Anyway, here is a picture of them later in the afternoon.
The highlight of the day’s happenings was obviously the anti-terror laws protest. When I arrived, Bob Brown was talking and many people in the crowd were holding The Greens triangles.
The crowd mainly seemed to be on message, which some people here were concerned about, and while there were not many placards to be seen, the ones that were there mostly made for it in size.
The sign below was held by a fairly elderly-looking man, whose head you can see a bit of in the lower right corner.
And one man came well prepared.
After Senator Brown, Carmen Lawrence spoke. She was reasonably rousing, but not as much so as the Aboriginal woman who spoke after her (and who I only managed to take unfocused photos of).
In front of the stage were two young men holding a sign that said something about ACTNOW wants free speech or opposes the sedition provisions or something like that. The two men had their mouths gagged, a la Merlin I thought.
The woman who was introducing the speakers said there were two ways people could help the cause: to persist (she used the nearby Falun Gong protestors as an example of persistance) and to donate to the fighting fund via this man and his bucket.
There were a few odd characters in the protest crowd, which was maybe 200 strong (but I’m a horrible estimater). These included this gentleman in suit and arab headdress who was handing out the Green Left Weekly.
There were a couple of dogs in the crowd as well, one of whom had a good talk to me. I think her name was Mischa.
And speaking of being on message, a handful of people at the front of the crowd were wearing anti-IR reform badges. I did vaguely wonder if they’d turned up a few hours late and caught the wrong protest.
The other, quieter and much smaller protest happening today was in the form of this van, parked on Federation Mall. If you wnat more information about the owner and their claims that the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations stole their house, I presume you should call 0401 422 427.
And finally, on my way out I noticed a couple of people holding Aboriginal flags. At first I thought they had actually gotten the flags up one of the poles, but when I got closer I realised this was not the case. I have a feeling I’ve seen these guys at previous protests (the tractor one from memory), so maybe they’re the people who will turn up to anything that there is often angst about.
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