Graeme Dunstan's Report to the Global Justice Alliance on Brisbane CHOGM organising
On
Wednesday 19 September I had meetings in
and Premiers Department and attended the meeting the CHOGM Action
Network.
The meeting took place in the
Commissioner's boardroom of Qld Police HQ in
The object of the meeting was to negotiate the application for a permit for peaceful assembly during CHOGM.
It was evident to me that the police we grateful to have someone to negotiate with for apart from the CHOGM Action Network, no other permits had been made and they have no idea of how many protesters or what kind of protest to expect. Nor do I.
As good karma would have it, I recognised
the senior officer, the 2IC of the CHOGM security operations. We had met at a
pre-Olympics crowd management conference organised by the Australian Emergency
Management Institute at Mt Macedon in 1998 and he had been so impressed by my
"a happy crowd is a manageable crowd" presentation that he asked me
to look him up next time I was in
So here was our meeting and our dialogue had common ground at once.
I assured them that with art, music and dance Peacebus aims to create a happy crowd, a celebratory gathering that is peaceful, artful and safe. When a protest crowd is getting noticed and enjoying itself, it will have no need or inclination to contest space with the police. This way the police get to enjoy it too.
They were considering banning all vehicles from the March on CHOGM planned for the 6 October. But after discussion it seems Peacebus will be allowed to roll along as tail end Charlie.
There is also a blanket ban on poles and sticks. But I am hanging out for stilts, poles to support our banners and sticks for the backpack puppets.
I expressed the view that our mutual danger would be the actions of agent provocateurs coming from agencies unknown on either side of the barricades. Good communications between protesters and police is the key for safety here and the police will have liaison officers in the crowd to listen to and deal with fears and crises as they arise.
I am confident that the bunch of police I met are working for peaceful outcomes. In their negotiations with CAN for the March, police have agreed to a presence with no guns, no batons, and no riot gear.
In
I reckon these precautions are part of the accepted way of setting up major security operations. Institutional caution and arse covering requires such things be on hand just like they were at the Sydney Olympics. But they won't be needed or called out if the commanders of police security operations have confidence in the peaceful conduct of us, the protesters.
I believe that the Qld Police are earnestly seeking the middle path whose outcome is a peaceful CHOGM, a peaceful protest and an affirmation of Brisbane as a city of peace in a time when the dogs of war are braying elsewhere.
Furthermore I believe that s11 style baton charges are now understood as a dysfunctional protest response.
S11 has shown them to be a lasting trouble for police commanders for they are inevitably followed by public outcry, expensive government inquiries and class actions against the police. (Lawyers, Slater and Gordon have recently announced a "no win, no fee" class action against the Victorian Police on behalf of those bashed at s11.)
Premiers Department have CHOGM section overseeing the entire event, security and protocol. They have appointed their own liaison officers to be go betweens for police and protesters.
I met with Amanda Scarpato who is a delightful person, with the same optimism in basic human goodness as I have. She is in close liaison with the key CAN organisers, Karen Fletcher and Andree Stark.
CHOGM
Action Network (CAN)
CAN meets weekly at the Miscellaneous Workers
Union meeting room in
CAN have negotiated a peaceful assembly permit for the March on Saturday 6 October, which will
assemble in the Roma Street Forum (
departure) and finish with an Assembly in
On Sunday 8 October they are organising a
CHOGM counter conference at
“Treaty Now!” is the first protest demand
of CAN and the meeting was attended by Murri organiser, Sam Watson.
I asked Sam advice on how to go getting permission to set up a peacebus camp there and he gave me the thumbs up, "You are in", he said.
At the meeting CAN added
another protest demand to their list in response to the mounting bray of the
The proposed convergence of protest organisers and participants was confirmed at this meeting.
On Friday 5 October, there will be a major anti globalisation march by unionists.
In the evening starting
It is expected that the Circle will break up into special interest groups (march marshals, medics and so on) and there will be much music and dialogue around fires for the rest of the evening.
The
Crew, passengers and convoy assemble outside the HEMP
Embassy Nimbin for departure to
Move to
from
Rig banners in
Move to Kelvin grove to participate in the counter conference.
Sunday evening depart for Nimbin depending on events and agreement from our Jagera hosts we may longer.
please ring me 0412 609 373
For peace and justice.
Graeme Dunstan