Posted on Tuesday, 17 September
On September the 11th, Victorian Socialist candidates and members were part of the Disrupt Land-Forces Conference rally at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Over 1,500 people attended the rally, which was organized by Students for Palestine and Disrupt Wars. The rally successfully picketed entrances of the conference for the opening morning, making life a little harder for the ghouls attending. The rally also shut down busy parts of the city, bringing attention to the disgraceful conference that was being held within it.
Much to the disappointment of some journalists, many of the people stuck in the traffic sided with the protest. One motorist randomly interviewed and asked about the protest said “I understand them to be honest, obviously it's inconvenient for everybody, it’s not fun, but wars aren't nice”.
The conference itself was full of the worst of the worst: CEOs of weapons companies, merchants of death, government officials, generals and other war criminals alike looking for the next best bomb to drop on families, or maybe AI controlled machine guns to mow people down. Some of the companies disgustingly advertising that their weapons had been “combat tested”, especially in Palestine.
At any time, such a conference would be abhorrent. But given Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza it’s especially obscene. The genocide in Gaza has been raging for almost 12 months, killing more than 40,000 people, 17,000 of which are children and flattening 60% of what was home to 2 million people. This is the reality of these weapons. They're not used to “keep us safe”, rather they are used to carry out the ruling classes’ imperialist wars. They’re used to invade and kill people in places like Gaza, Afghanistan ,Iraq and Vietnam.
Whilst there’s much to pick from, it’s hard to imagine a more sick part of capitalist profiteering than the military industrial complex – profiting from war and machines that are designed to slaughter humans as brutally and efficiently as possible.
Anyone that enables or profits from this sick and twisted system has no right to lecture anyone about violence or hate.
Yet, without an ounce of shame that’s exactly what Labor premier Jacinta Allan did, claiming protestors brought violence to Melbourne. Back in reality, it was the Labor government who brought violence to our streets when they not only rubber stamped, but helped fund this conference of death and genocide.
One of the most shocking things of the day was the brutality, violence and oppression brought by Victoria Police. Armed to the teeth with bottles of tear gas, “less than lethal” rubber bullets, flash bangs and more, it didn’t take long for the police, backed up by counterparts from NSW and WA, to escalate. Police indiscriminately sprayed people with pepper spray, shot people in the back with rubber bullets whilst they were walking away, and threw explosive flash bangs into crowds. Rally marshals were shot, pepper sprayed and hit with police shields whilst trying to help injured people. Legal observers were hit, even medics tending to injured people were not spared from being attacked.
All of this violence was enabled by the Labor government, who found a casual extra 15 million under the couch for the police. It's amazing what can be conjured up when the police need more money to terrorise people protesting against war. Meanwhile nurses and teachers are fighting over scraps to keep our underfunded healthcare and education systems running.
Victorian Socialists is proud of the role our members played in the protest against the Land Forces conference.
If you want to get involved in fighting for a world without weapons, and for a world that prioritises things like healthcare and education, get involved! We’re in the crucial final stages of our local council campaign, trying to get staunch campaigners for Palestine, public housing, and people power elected across in Melbourne! Check out our events page or sign up here.
