How to guarantee some populist violence at a peaceful Anti-APEC protest

The Pinochet Solution will not save the discredited Howard government, nor will it particularly help 'bridesmaid' a change to Labor's Kevin Rudd. There should be a full independent inquiry into the NSW government's handling of the anti-APEC protests, A$170 nmillion they spent and the instructions officers were given as their paramilitary 'Rules of Engagement". See this photo-video from the Sydney Morning Herald Photos: protest right

It is not very often that I find it necessary to quote from commercial television, but we all deserve to view this footage that shows what police brutality means in New South Wales, when our present Prime Minister wants to impress world leaders:
http://ninemsn.video.msn.com/v/en-au/v.htm?g=347cf87c-50ab-47a3-a0be-da23de81841c&f=39&fg=email
I would call this video "NSW Police demonstrate the Pinochet solution"

There is plenty of evidence that shows that at least 200 police officers removed their name tags. They could only have been directed to do this by their officers, who would take their orders from NSW Premier, Morris Iemma and from the Prime Minister's Office.

Let us not easily forget what Premier Iemma said on ABC TV:
QUENTIN DEMPSTER: Under Ken Moroney's performance contract policing seems to have been turned into what's known as authoritarian populism. The police - a force for retribution and revenge for the community's fear, distress and anger.

This was best illustrated by Premier Iemma's advice to recruits at Ken Moroney's final parade at the Goulburn Academy.

MORRIS IEMMA: Be as tough on the criminals as they are on us. Give them the same consideration as they give our kids when they deal them drugs, when they assault and rob a senior citizen, when they rape someone's daughter, when they deface a war memorial. In other words, be faithful to the police motto "let punishment swiftly follow crime".
http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/nsw/content/2006/s2021285.htm

Expect full force of law: Iemma
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22348896-5001021,00.html

When it comes to getting tough on demonstrators no one in power wants to be left out. John Howard had enough to say ... and aspiring Prime Minister in waiting Kevin Rudd had to put his impramata on the expected 'biff':

Rudd backs APEC crackdown http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/03/2022379.htm

When our governments steal oil this violent act make all of us unsafe

Since I uploaded this post there has been further discussion on the topic:

All about oil ? - repost By jquiggin | July 6, 2007 http://johnquiggin.com/index.php/archives/2007/07/06/all-about-oil-repost/#more-3597

A worthy read. You decide who to believe - not John Howard's spin doctors.

Dear Prime Minister,

For years your Government has adopted the Bush administration's Iraq policy as our own, even as that policy has repeatedly failed. With Australian troops still at risk and the situation in Iraq deteriorating, Australia urgently needs an independent Iraq policy.

We ask that you announce a plan for a new way forward, including a clearly defined exit strategy for Australia in Iraq.

*Petition updated as of February 15, 2007

www.getup.org.au/campaign/PleaseMrHoward

I thought going to war in Iraq was supposed to make us safer, not put us in more danger. And now we're hearing it was for their oil. Some of you may have seen me ask John Howard from my hospital bed whether he thought what happened to me was a result of the war in Iraq.

I did not think then that two years later we would be still be in this position, where I feel compelled to ask Mr Howard the same question. Yet here we are - our military presence is not making the Iraqis any safer; it is not making Australians any safer. Why, exactly, are we there then?

Louise Barry

Survivor, 2005 London Bombings

GetUp member

Howard, Bush stand firm on Iraq timeline, Reporter: Jim Middleton http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2005/s1418872.htm

Bomb victim grills PM Howard in new TV ad http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,22027003-1702,00.html

Howard links Iraq war to oil, Brendan Nicholson | July 5, 2007 http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/07/04/1183351327508.html

Well, Brendan Nelson also knows why Australian troops were used to illegally invade and occupy Iraq:

Nelson: Oil a factor in Iraq deployment, July 5, 2007 - 10:50AM http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/howard-links-iraq-war-to-oil/2007/07/04/1183351291906.html

Speaking this morning, Dr Nelson said oil was among the reasons to keep troops in Iraq.

"Energy security is extremely important to all nations throughout the world, and of course, in protecting and securing Australia's interests," he said.

"The Middle East itself, not only Iraq, but the entire region is an important supplier of energy oil, in particular, to the rest of the world."

Govt splits on Iraq war oil link

http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/05/1970982.htm

My comment:

These pernicious politicians should look straight into the eyes of soldiers who risk their lives and tell them that they are asked to do this so that we can drive cars without paying for the petrol we use. How many would agree to fight if they knew it was to enable us to steal the oil that belongs to the people of Iraq on whom we have heaped nothing but misery and destruction. John Howard and his cohort are unfit for public office. He and George W Bush and Tony Blair should be tried as war criminals.

Iraq: Growing opposition to oil law

http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Iraq/214809

The proposed closure of the Queensland University of Technology School of Humanities and Human Services

QUT vice-chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake -'Master of spin'
"Professor Coaldrake said the school was losing between $200,000 and $400,000 a year, which was unsustainable. He said the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Human Services had high attrition rates and poorer employment outcomes than other QUT courses.

Professor Coaldrake said QUT's strength in humanities was its Creative Industries faculty at Kelvin Grove, which was internationally competitive.

"For us, that is the new humanities," he said".

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21594681-3102,00.html

Some of my comments on the proposed closure of the School of Humanities and Human Services at the QUT Carseldine campus:

I am concerned that no strategies have been developed to ensure that the promise of “adequate” supervision of Post Graduate study. The very use of the word “adequate” suggests something less than comparable with optimum or best practise. It is like the use of the word ‘tolerant’ in a multicultural society. I am also concerned that our Vice Chancellor, Peter Coldrake, does not see the differences between Creative Industries and Humanities. They do complement one another, but the community of interest has a small overlap.

This managerial casualness in dealing with detail informs me that the consultative process is designed to fail; that the decision is regarded as irreversible, possibly necessary and ‘courageous’, and that no account is being taken of either the intrinsic value of the Humanities to the functioning of the whole university; or the interests of the students. There can be no Post Graduate students or programmes without committed Supervisors, who in turn, need to have real Undergraduate student teaching to contribute to their work load and inform their research and supervision duties.

I am concerned about the manner in which the announcement was made in the media with the appearance of an executive fait accompli achieved without consultation and in an authoritarian managerial style that denies intrinsic values and the role of ethics in public life. The model of management demonstrated by our Vice Chancellor does not appear to draw on the ethical standards; consultative process and social responsibility are at odds with what these managers would learn if they studied the Humanities. The ‘University of the Real World’ appears to ignore any engagement with the disciplines and needs of the real world that is around us.

This real world is in a state of terminal decline, with dangerous climate change, a widening gulf between privilege and poverty, leading to social turmoil, instability and deprivation. It is a world in need of sound ethical research, genuine humanistic and societal change and real committed people at the ‘coal face’ dealing with human needs. The real world is at war, with combatants returning to be ignored with their psychiatric illness and millions of refugees with nowhere to go beyond starvation and their miserable tents in the desert. The real world is much more than the temporary bubble of prosperity created by a casino economy mineral boom. Global warming will teach us not to rely on digging holes and shipping coal. We need to conduct a equitable functioning society that is informed by the Humanities that you appear to see no value in retaining. We need to be a smart society.

QUT Carseldine has a huge catchment of potential students but is poorly served by public transport and little relatedness with the adjacent community. Perhaps less drastic solutions would start by addressing these anomalies.

I am reminded of my poem from 2002:

Making Ends Meet

We declared a war on terror

And asylum seekers gladly offered

To forgo a meal each day

Waiting out their desert detention

We declared a war on terror

The mentally ill, though not consulted

Relinquished adequate treatment

We declared a war on terror

Educators readily raised their hands

Allowing deep cuts in all departments

The Humanities promised to prune

The deepest as theirs were merely

Human concerns

We declared a war on terror

Housing authorities decided that

Accommodation for the disadvantaged

Was no longer a priority

We declared a war on terror

And assistance for the long-term unemployed

Tapered away to a vanishing point of despair

We declared a war on terror

Fifteen-year-old boys thumped

Each other’s arms and threw

Screwed up balls of paper

Larked around in the classroom

Oblivious that they would join

The next wave through snow-clad minefields

Jungle creeks – weapons held aloft

We declared a war on terror

And politicians who had lied

And rorted to stay in power

Passed legislation banning groups

Opposed to war, arrested

On whim, stifled dissent

Silenced those who knew

Too much of what was true

And sold their consciences

In the service of Uncle Sam

West End, Brisbane 2002