Reverse charge: Time to withdraw the free ride for violent protest groups

Victorian Police officers, Australian Defence Force personnel, industry representatives attending the expo and even local bystanders got a front-row seat to the modern values of groups like Disrupt Land Forces, Students for Palestine, Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, Wage Peace - Disrupt War and Extinction Rebellion Victoria.

What they witnessed was criminal vandalism, anti-establishment chaos, aimless destruction, economic short-sightedness and general banditry on the streets surrounding the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 11 to 13 September.

More than 1,500 supposedly “peaceful” protesters came looking for a fight and they got the confrontation they wanted.

They arrived wearing eye protection to hinder the synthetic capsicum spray that they knew Victorian Police would carry and they wore face coverings to hide their identities because they knew they could be prosecuted for the unlawful behaviour about to be unleashed.

They smuggled in projectiles (low-level acid, bottles and urine, according to Victorian Police) in advance to assault officers trying to maintain order and they also carried red paint to target specific individuals heading to work in the street or even splash on the building itself.

These are hardly the premeditated actions of a claimed “peaceful” protest group.

Granted, demonstrators probably didn’t carry a few bags of horse manure or haul a few garbage wheel bins and wood pallets into the area.

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But there can be no doubt that their first instinct was to use these found objects as additional ammunition to throw at the Victorian Police and to start fires burning in the streets in pursuit of further viciousness, meanwhile we have since learnt that opportunistic community representatives like Victorian Greens Gabrielle de Vietri joined the crowd and spurred it on with full support.

That sounds more like a coordinated and directed riot than a non-violent protest.

Following the latest demonstrator-led blockades of streets in Sydney and Melbourne, the unlawful trespassing in defence industry company facilities, the blockading of shipping port facilities and now this latest riot outside Land Forces 2024, it’s time for the free ride to end for these kinds of violent protests.

It’s time for protest groups and their supporters like the Australian Greens Party to put their money where their mouth is, accept some responsibility and be held accountable.

Victoria Police reportedly assembled its largest contingent of officers since Melbourne hosted the World Economic Forum in 2000, to hold back the mob intent on destruction during Land Forces 2024. That kind of policing operation doesn’t come cheap.

Taxpayers will reportedly be billed around $30 million for the more than 12,000 rostered policing shifts pooled for the operation, according to Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas.

The cheque has definitely arrived in the mail for a violent activity that the average taxpayer did not approve, take part in and will not defend.

Protest organisers and their supporters (Australian Greens Party) take these actions because they presume blamelessness. Peaceful protests are given a free pass on the basis of free speech and the right to protest – an implied freedom of political communication found in the Australian Constitution.

However, this was not a peaceful protest and instead, the standard precedent is being taken advantage of.

It’s high time to hold these groups accountable for their intention to damage to public infrastructure, injure to Victorian Police officers simply doing their job and waste of community funding. It’s time to reverse the charge.

“I certainly think the protesters stand condemned. I mean, everyone respects the right of peaceful protests in this country, but that’s not what we have seen here,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, speaking to Sky News on 13 September following the riots.

“We’ve seen people really engage in violent protests and protests which have utterly disrespected people who wear our nation’s uniform, people who serve in a manner which is there to defend Australians, Victorians, Melburnians.

“I think it’s disgraceful that we see Greens senators addressing these protesters and once again, we watched the Australian Greens throw their lot in with thuggery, which is essentially what we’ve witnessed in the violence of these protests.

“I think it’s also important to understand what’s going on at Land Forces. An event of that kind is actually about building understanding between our armies. It’s about making our own contribution to peace … Along with looking at those companies using high-tech industry, Australian jobs to help supply the equipment to those who wear our nation’s uniform to keep us safe.

“Now, people are going about their lawful business in doing all of that which is actually noble. And what we’ve got out there are people who are not peaceful, who have engaged in violence and who do stand condemned.”

Final thoughts

Aside from the ridiculous economic drain of such an activity, the Land Forces protests represent a deeply flawed and misguided moral crusade against the defence industry and its outcomes.

Protests like this represent a fundamental misunderstanding of how defence industry technology steadily filters down from military purposes into commonplace civilian life.

Military funding and war-time innovation has often made remarkable positive change to the world, despite the absurd claims of a need for complete international de-weaponisation (which is extremely unlikely to ever happen).

Defence innovations in mechanical design such as jet propulsion, ballistic computers, radar and global positioning navigation satellite systems, and microwave technology have profoundly advanced the human race.

Antibiotics like penicillin or healthcare techniques such as blood plasma transfusion were originally developed or mass-produced as military medical treatments before becoming common place elsewhere.

Even the protesters’ own beloved “Super Glue” is now understood to have been invented by Dr Harry Coover in 1942 during work on manufacturing gun sights.

After the demonstrations outside Land Forces 2024, it’s never been easier for the Australian public to see the parts of our domestic industry improving society and those individuals creating costly obstacles to progress.