We have had a lot of reaction to the unjust laws that the Napthine government narrowly passed 44 -43 in parliament late yesterday afternoon. Strangely very little has been said in the mainstream media probably for two reasons, 1. The Napthine government doesn’t want you to know and 2. The Laws are so unjust and so unworkable that many in the media are struggling to understand why such laws are needed. The Guardian did run a piece last night of which you can find here:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/20/victorian-anti-protest-laws-pass-lower-house?CMP=soc_568
The Guardian’s story was accompanied by a picture that featured people from our community who have been peacefully protesting an unwanted McDonald’s being built in here in Tecoma. The tactics the campaign have used have been clever, cheeky, thought provoking and above all peaceful. Our campaign has been singled out by Victorian Police as “a pleasure to deal with” due to our core values and a publicised No Violent Direct Action (NVDA) code of conduct. All the politicians who opposed this bill in parliament yesterday constantly referred to the Tecoma protest as a peaceful community action that has become the standard for communities around Australia. In fact Tecoma was mentioned 25 times on the floor yesterday. Our protest has become the “gold standard” for communities around the nation and not a week goes by without another e-mail from small grassroots communities asking, “How can we do it the Tecoma way?”

So the question has to be asked “Why do we need such repressive laws?” The short answer is “we don’t” The current laws allow the police to deal with anyone who break the law. The new laws will allow the police to deal with anyone they think “might break the law” and frankly that is a bridge too far for communities like Tecoma that have lost their democratic voice.

The new bill when enacted will see a peaceful protest such as Tecoma facing jail time for community activists expressing an opinion. Our group has cheekily “flash-mobbed” appreciative shoppers with song at a local shopping mall, are we now to be charged with “singing with intent”?

We blockaded McDonald’s Melbourne HQ with hundreds of colourful garden gnomes, so will a ceramic gnome been seen as an offensive weapon?

And we remind people that we maintained a 50-day protest out the front of James Currie’s Boronia McDonald’s store without incident. No staff was approached nor were customers stopped from entering the store. There were no arrests and no one was asked to move on because we were peaceful, respectful and above all broke no laws. However under the new Summary Offences Act, this assumed right to peaceful protest could be shut down on the whim of a police officer.

If one of our “Picket Knitters” is now asked to move on and then return to “knit again” the next day they now face 2 year’s jail term if charged. Common sense tells us the government is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut with this ridiculous legislation.

It’s obvious to many in this campaign that the Napthine Government is in its death throws. Like many government they think they can hold on to office by the old trick of creating a problem and solving it. They have worked long and hard to demonise legitimate protests and now they can get rid of the “thugs” with this repressive law. In parliament yesterday the juxtaposition was obvious, those who spoke in favour (LNP) used emotive words like “thugs” “criminals” “law-breakers” and no point did anyone from the government acknowledge the peaceful Tecoma protest, instead the State Treasurer Michael O’Brien said “It is time for the Tecoma protest to move on” meaning our community in the government’s eyes has no voice or presence. On the opposition benches the mood was rational and fair, “peaceful assembly” was mentioned, as well as “democratic rights” The Tecoma campaign was mentioned by almost all opposition MP’s who spoke against the laws with the Member for Richmond Richard Wynne summing it up perfectly stating “This is a shameless piece of legislation.

But it was our own local MP James Merlino that hit the nail on the head to why the government is racing to democracy’s execution when he said:
“Following mediation McDonald’s abandoned the lawsuit. The Napthine government, through this draconian and antidemocratic bill, is seeking to do what McDonald’s failed to do. The Napthine government is acting against the community of the Dandenong Ranges, and this bill is an affront to those people.”
So it’s worth noting that a recent media article on political lobbying pointed out that Former Howard Chief of staff Graham Morris lists McDonald’s Australia as one of his clients. We can reasonably ask the question “Has McDonald’s picked up the phone to the LNP and asked to curtail the democratic process in Tecoma”
So what can you do?
Firstly come and be heard at our planned community meeting for Sunday March 2nd. We’ll have local politicians in attendance and you can voice your concerns. We will attempt to get one of the local Liberal along to explain why thee laws are needed (But don’t hold your breath for that to happen) you can register your attendance to this event via our Facebook page here
https://www.facebook.com/events/245105119001229/?ref=3&ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular
Secondly you can call any government Minister or MP and tell them Tecoma will not be silenced by this ridiculous legislation. You can find a list of MP’s here:
http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/members/ministers

And final, with McDonald’s using VCAT to overturn a democratic council decision to push through an unwanted and unwelcome 24/7 drive through in Tecoma this was widely seen as the first nail in the coffin for Victorian Democracy. Yesterday, Premier Napthine nailed in the second one. Fortunately Victorian Democracy still clings to life and if it can last until November neither VCAT nor Napthine’s draconian legislative agenda will stop democracy dealing the LNP government a decisive loss in the polls.

(CREDIT: The Guardian Thursday 20 February 2014)