This is not a call to violence. It is a sketch incorporating a variety of factors and circumstances which leads me to conclude that violence will be the inevitable outcome of the S11 protests in Melbourne. By violence I mean people will be injured, scared and damaged, I am not concerned with 'violence' to property. I will not condemn nor condone violence perpetrated by demonstrators. To reach such a judgement is not the purpose of this piece. I am more interested in outlining the reasons why violence will occur so that fellow protesters/activists can take whatever precautions they deem necessary and in act in a way they feel comfortable and safe with. In examining the inevitability of violence it is necessary to place the S11 protests within a timed historical context as well as looking to the recent dissident past and examining the rhetoric of S11 as espoused by the mainstream media, the government and the police. It is also essential to understand that we live in a media age, which means the government is more interested in what it's seen to be doing rather than what it's actually doing.

The rough outline of the S11 violence sketch is composed of the recent history of anti W.T.O. protests. Much has been made of the 'Battle of Seattle'. It's a moment in the history of dissidence which has been burned into the consciousness of activists and non activists alike. One only has to look at the posters adorning power poles, shop fronts and cafe walls. 'S11-Bringing Seattle to Melbourne', 'Seattle + Washington = Melbourne' ' Seattle + Switzerland = Melbourne' and so on, to see the position that 'The Battle of Seattle' occupies within activist discourse. Not that I see such propaganda as contributing to a violent paradigm within the anti W.T.O. movement. Such posters should be seen as what they are, simplistic propaganda tools making us feel a part of something monumental and historical. The more pervasive notions of violence at S11 has been orchestrated primarily between the police and the mainstream media with some help from the government. Most media reports of Seattle in relation to Melbourne has focused on shots of trashed Starbucks and McDonalds, there has been very little mention that the Seattle protest was essentially peaceful and that the police over reacted. The result is that the anti W.T.O movement is perceived as volatile. Couple this with 'reports' of school children being recruited to the S11 cause, protester training camps presented as quasi terrorist training camps/indoctrination centres and rumours of anarchists and other militants flying into Australia from The United States and Europe to infiltrate the S11 protest with the express purpose of creating violence. ( These rumours appear to be completely unsubstantiated and really how many activists could afford to fly here given that airline tickets are at a premium price due to the Olympic games?). This has created a situation whereby a seed has been sown in the consciousness of the general public (whose opinion the government is ever mindful of) that S11 will be violent because there are 'bad elements' stirring up trouble.

The Olympic games and recent political events are writ large on S11. The games have already become a failure in many ways. Nepotism, corruption, scandal, fiscal and logistical failure, broken promises, elitism/corporatism, protests and more have plagued SOCOG and other associated bodies. 'The Aboriginal issue' has become a thorn in the government's side and as much as Howard wishes it would go away it won't, especially with the U.N. regularly swinging into the fray. Refugees, especially with the recent Woomera 'riot', are another thorn in the governments side which the U.N. is also concerned about. As much as Howard and his government may act like they don't care what the U.N. says or thinks, in the eyes of much of the world Australia has proven itself to be inept at organising the Olympic games and brutal in its handling of indigenous people and refugees (not to mention lesbian and single mothers). With most of the world's media about to descend on the country the last thing the government needs is any more bad P.R.

Assuming that some form of police intelligence exists in relation to political activists and the history of activism (this has proven to be the case with exposes of illegal police files kept on a wide variety of people involved at even the most peripheral level of activism) then we can safely say that a snowball effect has been noted. For example during the mid 90's a huge and successful protest was held in Canberra against A.I.D.E.X (Australian Industry and Defence Exhibition), a week later George Bush appeared in Melbourne. Protesters fresh from victory in Canberra congregated in Melbourne and a spirited stoush erupted between the protesters and the police. Such a scenario has already been alluded to by the NSW police commissioner Peter Ryan in relation to S11 and anti Olympic demonstrations. With the Federal government taking a battering on a variety of human rights issues and the NSW government coping a hiding over nepotism, cronyism and rorting the last thing either of them needs is bus loads of amped up protesters from Melbourne arriving to swell the numbers at the Aboriginal tent embassy. Such an invasion with the world's media present and somewhat versed on Aboriginal issues would severely embarrass the state and federal governments and what's worse they couldn't bludgeon the protesters into submission while the Olympic games were in progress. Such a scenario is to be prevented at all costs.

The obvious solution is to do the beating in Melbourne. The anti W.T.O movement has already been associated with violence. Organisers are recruiting school children, protester training camps are in operation and violent agitators are flying into Melbourne to facilitate Seattle type violence. These are the predominant representations of S11 doing the mainstream media rounds, supported by the police and government departments.

The general public (including overseas viewers) may be distressed if protesters are beaten up but at the same time such an action has been legitimised by the precedence of Seattle and the discourse surrounding S11. Such an action would be unacceptable in Sydney with the games going on, but it would be acceptable in Melbourne. Into this mix toss The Defense Legislation Amendment bill presently before parliament to give the military police powers, including among other things the power to hold without charge anyone considered disruptive or threatening the security of the state and things start to look troublesome. The long and short of it is that if the government wants to prevent Seattle in Sydney then it's best bet is to nip it in the bud in Melbourne which I think it will do because the stage has been set for such an action.

This is not to say people should avoid S11, quite the opposite, the more people involved the better off we all are. There's safety in numbers. Nor am I saying we should perpetrate or eschew violence, that's for the individual to decide. I think it's important to be aware that violence is likely to occur. The state by its very nature is a violent institution and it's best if we are prepared for the state to try and violate us.

I think it's vital to understand what this violence means. It's one thing to talk about police/state violence in the abstract, as if it's news footage from the anti-Vietnam war days. It's quite another to cop a kidney punch from some cop, or to be dragged by your hair across a road, or to get a truncheon wrapped around your head or to see your friends bleeding and crying or to have a police dog latch onto your arm or to be thrown into a crowded riot truck for hours with a broken arm and concussion. This is the reality of a 'violent clash with police'. Again I'm not trying to scare anyone but I think people have to know at what level they want to be involved with confrontation. If S11 does become violent it's going to be chaos. There's a lot of people who are new to the protest game and like Jabiluka they will be shocked and scared when the state gets serious. Those of us who know what to expect and who have copped the weight of the state stomping on our face have a responsibility to let people know what to expect and support them in their actions. We have to be prepared to go down for a stranger because there's no strangers only activists we don't know.

- Hanz

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