All I Saw On Australia Day Was Police Aggression; How About You?

By on February 2, 2012 in News 5

311px-Australian_Coat_of_ArmsThe 26 January 2012 incident where Australia’s Prime Minister Gillard was dragged away by security forces to a car and speeded away has been portrayed by the media as an attack or riot on Australia Day.

Selective scenes have been used to give people the impression of a violent mob threatening the Prime Minister and the  opposition leader. When the video footage failed to display evidence of such violence, they then replaced some video footage with photo images of the Prime Minister dragged almost on the ground by the security officer to create the right atmosphere to justify their narration.

The police said that they will not charge anybody over the incident, and some writers begin to compare the Australia Day incident with the 2005 racially motivated Cronulla Riot; and then believe that it is unfair not to arrest the “rioters” over the incident.

The truth is that while the protesters may be noisy by chanting slogans with a small number patting on the restaurant glass window, they are not violent at all and I cannot see any video footage presented by the Australian media showing any evidence of protesters slamming or smashing the glass window.

Unfortunately, to find out the truth, we have to move away from the mainstream media in Australia for an answer. This Washington Post video shows footage of the Prime Minister being rushed from the restaurant to the car without any sign of aggression by protesters:

The Juice Media has produced a video on YouTube showing police aggression instead of violence by the protesters:

Anybody who comes by any video footage showing protesters violence please let everybody know by adding a link at the end of this article in the comments.

Colonialism has been resented by the world after the Second World War. It is unwise to continue to celebrate Australia Day based on the arrival of the British Colonistd on 26 January 1788; the feeling of our First people have to be respected. Australia Day should be an inclusive day that represents all Australians in this country. It is time to remove the Union Jack from our flag and change Australia Day to another date.

Written on 30 Jan 2012 by Wei Ling Chua, author of the book: Racism in Australia—The Causes, Incidents, Reasoning and Solutions.

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  • Quentin Q

    There were no claims of violence. There were claims of ‘threats of violence’ and a large angry mob banging on the windows of the restaurant. A restaurant where ambulance workers were being celebrated. Of course the police are going to show up and escort the PM out of the building in that situation.

    There’s no question Abbott’s a bigoted tool, and the protesters were right to be angry but there’s no need to pull drama out of your arse Wing.

    • Jinotegano

      2Q+2Q=

  • Young_loud_and_snotty

    To many Aussies this incident is being seen as a media beat-up.
    Apparently one of the Prime ministers media staff alerted someone at the tent embassy that the opposition leader – Tony Abbott – had earlier said that the tent embassy should be torn down, and that he was now at a restaurant with the Prime Minister to hand out medals to emergency service personnel.
    So people from the tent embassy marched to the restaurant and started banging on the glass walls and shouting. The AFP – Australian federal police – had a bit of a panic, called in reinforcements and told the PM that a riot was starting and that she and Mr Abbott would have to be protected.
    The initial pictures were disturbing and seemed to show the PM being mobbed – and she lost a shoe.
    But once people started to question what had happened, and the group from the tent embassy claimed that they were being portreyed unfairly other footage started to show up.

    It looked as though the PM was in more danger from the AFP than anyone else, as they dragged her across the grass to her car the only people anywhere near here were the AFP and the media.

    So – riot? definitely not, over-reaction by the AFP – absolutely

  • rtb61

    It’s just so funny, the only people who seemed to get close where the reporters, cameramen and sound recordists. They were the ones charging the vehicle and the people attacked by the police.
    Apparently Aussie journalists must be looking at what’s going on in the US with random arrest and beatings of journalists and the Aussie versions are trying to goad Australia Police into violent action.
    The only seemed to be a couple of officers with truly bloated ego’s who abandoned the law.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Rohini-Chand/100000779674035 Rohini Chand

    Wei, there’s no doubt Julia probably didn’t need manhandling by a copper, which is what offended me, but the video clearly shows repeated physical blocking of the cars by protesters, and that justifies police response. Sorry, I know Radio 2UE (according to Media Watch) misquoted Abbott, and so did AP, but the protesters’ behaviour, shown here, explains the police action.
    I do believe these malcontents had an agenda too: to spoil Australia Day. All they’ve achieved is to marginalise themselves, even from other indigenous people.