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Anti-War Demo's
February 15th, 2003
Report From Brisbane
by Gary MacLennan
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Eyewitness: Report From Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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Comrades,
I have just come back from the Brisbane peace rally. It was easily the
biggest demonstration I have been on in Australia. Organisers are claiming
100, 000 which is a truly astonishing figure for Brisbane. In 27 years of
demonstrating here I have never seen anything like it. the size of the
demo was way beyond anything the organisers had planned for and it was
impossible to get near the stage for the final speeches. By getting near I
mean within sight if not hearing, but we could neither hear see nor hear
the speakers.
It was quite a thrill to see a cause being taken up by the general
public. I am becoming convinced that the political cost for Australia in
joining a non-UN sponsored attack on Iraq is now too high for Howard. I
suspect the Coalition of the Willing is not that willing after all.
The rally was colourful and very good tempered. There were bursts of
slogans and every so often there would be snatches of "All we are
saying..." floating above the crowd. In my Leninist Trotskyist days I use
to pour scorn on that song. I once drowned out attempts to sing it by
chanting all the way through a peace rally demanding class war. One
solution, Revolution.. But now I recognize the greatness of Lennon's
masterpiece. It encapsulates perfectly the decent hopes of so many.
The day itself was a stifling humid Brisbane summer day with the
temperature hovering in the 30 degrees centigrade range. (Eat your hearts
out, Yanks!) I thought of poor Lou Paulsen in the windy city.
It is early too early to judge the impact of these demonstrations. But
they have shocked the rulers to the very core of their rotten hearts. No
one could have foreseen a demonstration like today. No one. My
explanation is that there is a growing gap between the rulers and the
ruled, and that if they ignore the protests and go ahead with their
butchery then that gap will widen even more.
A veto [to stop the war] may not be required. Bush needs nine votes
on the Security Council. Reports to date suggest he has only three - USA,
Britain and Bulgaria. In any case what the demonstrations have done is to
make the political cost of going to war, a very heavy one.
Blair and Howard's problems are almost identical except in quantitative
terms Britain is a much more significant "poodle" than Australia. Neither
Blair nor Howard understood the sea change that has taken place in the mood
of the world. I do not think it is an exaggeration to put it like that.
In addition their boss, George W. Bush is very unmarketable outside the
USA. The other night I watched my younger son looking in fascinated horror
at Bush stumbling through a press conference groping for some cliche his
speech writers had dreamed up. Interestingly my son said 'That's the man
who is about to destroy the world and he cannot think.' My son's reaction
is typical, I believe of his entire generation.
On the demonstration Daniel, a young Aboriginal Australian who is part of
my extended family, had a hand painted sign which said on one side "Howard
is a maniacal idiot" and on the other he had written "Bush is just the
worst thing there is".
Daniel is a classic representative of the apolitical alternative youth
culture. That he should attend the rally and produce his own sign was for
me quite a shock. But it also tells of the kind of problems that Blair and
Howard have created for themselves.
BTW congratulations to all who attended the LONDON RALLY. It has had an
enormous impact on us down under. You may not be able to play cricket or
soccer but...
– Gary MacLennan
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