March In March protest ...What Was The point?

[icyfroth]

THE latest March in March rally is today in Canberra and not surprisingly some of the biggest names in federal politics are ignoring it.

Busy man that he is, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was not scheduled to address the rally in front of Parliament House and nor were any of his senior lieutenants.

Certainly Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his ministers have other things they want to do.

Deputy Greens Leader Adam Bandt was to address the protesters, a token presence of elected politics from the party now deemed most likely to lose an election.

It would be unfair to claim these rallies are pointless. But while the Sunday March in March gatherings in capital cities were said to have attracted more than 80,000 people, they were mass demonstrations looking for a purpose.

There were bits of anger over asylum seeker policy, over economic management, over workplace laws. In Sydney Billy Bragg turned up to sing about Gina Rinehart.

Meanwhile, Tony Abbott was relatively comfortable with other endorsements, such as the Liberals’ 55 per cent two-party preferred vote in South Australia and the Liberal victory in Tasmania, to counter suggestions his party is on the way out.

The only point of march cohesion appeared to be a concerted belief Mr Abbott should not be Prime Minister, which makes the rallies about seven months too late. They should have been out on the streets last September.

Or they should have postponed their action until next September.

It is difficult to argue that this Government should be attacked for what it has done over the past six months, because most of its energy has been aimed at undoing things put in place by former Labor governments.

It won’t be doing much in its own name until the May Budget and the arrival of the new Senate in July.

That’s when it might be appropriate for some to march.

From Here

It was probably just a practice run by the organisers to see how many ppl they could gee up.

[monman12]

"March In March protest ...What Was The point?"

IF, cartharsis, which  is displayed in poliical resentment, and politicall bitterness.

 nɥºɾ

[nero_bolt]

[freakiness]

If you'd read anything about it with an open mind you would know it had nothing to do with Labor, or unions, or any other organization.

Why is it surprising that Shorten isn't scheduled to speak?

[vampire-teddy]

why protest anything?  because some people have the human decency to believe that the treatment of refugees in this country is deplorable.  as for the lefty comment if that is what one who is a decent compassionate human being is called than so be it in my opinion.  it was not a political march it was a show of disgust not just at the current government but at the past one who combined have brough Australia into the worldwide spotlight in an extremely negative way.  the current government has spent so much time undoing everything the previous government did (just for the sake of it and for the bitter and twisted satisfaction of our current PM and his petty little revenge games) except the one thing that should have been amended - the way people are being treated.  i applaud all those who went to the various marches around the country yesterday and stood up for the principles of decency and humanity.  i woulnd't mind betting there were more than a few there yesterday who realise now what a terrible mistake they made 7 months ago.

[izabsmiling]

What was the point of our now PM attending 2 rallies as the then opposition leader ...look at the class ,respectability and respect he and the now Madam Chair Person display.

Gillard's rivals should ditch the witch attack

• JAMES CAMPBELL
• SUNDAY HERALD SUN
• MARCH 27, 2011 1

Tony Abbott speaks at the rally with the "**bleep** and "Witch" signs behind him. Source: Supplied

YOU'D have thought Tony Abbott would have learned by now that one of the golden rules of Australian politics - alongside Never Promise A New Tax Before An Election, and Keep Bob Hawke's Hands Where You Can See Them - is Don't Address A Rally Of Fired-up Enthusiasts.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/gillards-rivals-should-ditch-the-witch-attack/story-e6frfif...

[izabsmiling]

http://theaimn.com/2014/03/16/did-you-hear-about-the-march-in-march/

And when the event was over it continued receiving massive and widespread coverage in every Australian newspaper. This Google search brought up page after page of results confirming this, if you’re interested. Every detail of the convoy was dissected, organisers were interviewed, photos were splashed across the font pages and in keeping with what we can expect from our media . . . it was hailed as a huge success and another nail in the coffin of the Gillard Government.

All we saw or heard was hysterical shrill from the mainstream media.

In contrast, the successful March in March protests received no coverage from the mainstream media. Before, during, or after. At the time of writing the ABC and ninemsn.com stand alone as the only major media organisations to give it any coverage. (Naturally the ABC will be punished for reporting it).

The mainstream media is free, of course, to publish whatever stories they wish. But I find it disturbing that after giving mass coverage of the convoy of no confidence, they choose not to bother reporting anything about the March in March. It is also disappointing that the views and actions of what is going to amount to tens of thousands of Australians . . . are totally ignored. In contrast the actions and opinions of a few truckies, probably 80 in all, were awarded prominent coverage.

Maybe, just maybe, they don’t want their ‘protected’ readers to know of the growing groundswell of discontent towards their beloved leader.

Unless you are a reader of independent media or engage with social media . . . the chances are high that you would not have even known about the march.

look at the differences 

[polocross58]

.

' It was probably just a practice run by the organisers to see how many ppl they could gee up'

Agreed

Turned out to be a tiny storm in a doll's house teacup

[izabsmiling]

this is the point 

The purpose of the rally was to signify “the people’s vote of no confidence in policies of the government that go against common principles of humanity, decency, fairness social justice and equity, democratic governance, responsible global citizenship and conserving our natural heritage”, according to the event’s Facebook page.

 http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/thousands-take-to-melbourne-streets-to-protest-against-abb...

[cherry*135]

The point of protests is to make a point. See the post before this one.