by Gigi
I wanted to give a short report back from the ACM Protest which was on yesterday morning (May 17) in order to let people who couldn't be there aware of what went on, and in order to provide, perhaps, a starting point for discussions around plans for future actions and things we would like to change/improve for any upcoming actions.
The protest at ACM was a great victory in many ways for RAC. A representative of ACM publicly acknowledge our demands and promised that ACM would respond to those demands by June 3. Whether or not this occurs remains to be seen, however making contact with ACM in regards to condition inside detention centres was still big step forward. The protest was widely reported upon in the media, with most reports managing to move beyond the 'violent protestor' image to instead report on the acceptance by
ACM of RAC's demands. With this in mind, it would be good to think about where we want the campaign to go after June 3, and how we are going to go about it. The ACM blockade has also provided us with an opportunity to look at the tactics of how the protest was organised and conducted with a view to future protests being even more successful!
On the 17 of May, approximately 150 protesters gathered at Town Hall from 7.30 am, before marching to the offices of ACM at 8am. The building which houses ACM was heavily guarded by police from the TRG (Tactical Response Group), and most of the entrances were locked, with only the front doors on York St open for people to enter through. Blockades were not established immediately, but formed once it became clear that the police were trying to get employees into the building. The heavy police presence (which included, somewhat strangely, a contingent of about 10 horses) meant that the blockades were not able to completely prevent access to the building, however they did hold steadily despite much police pressure. Once again, police behaviour on the day has come under fire, with reports from protesters of sexual assault and racial abuse. There were also problems with police officers not wearing badges and using unnecessary force when dealing with protesters.
The Refugee Action Collective had appointed two members, Natasha Verco and Gigi Adair, to act as police liaison officers for the blockade. Despite prior assurances from Inspector Dave Darcy, however, the police were unwilling to liaise with protesters for at least the first hour of the protest. Once liaison with Inspector Ron Mason was established, however, we were able to successfully negotiate an agreement whereby a representative from ACM met with two RAC members and accepted RAC's demands. This was captured on video and widely reported in the media. Once this had occurred it was agreed by the protesters that the blockade should be disbanded and everyone left peacefully.
The morning was a great success, so it would be fantastic if we could use our experiences at ACM to plan for future actions. It has been suggested that this week's RAC meeting (Sunday 20/5, 2pm, Sydney Uni SRC) should be an opportunity to debrief after ACM and discuss strategy for the next few months of the campaign. It would be great to have as much input as possible into this discussion, so everyone is encouraged to come along and share their thoughts on where we should be going from here.
