Why You Should Be Angry About the Lockdown
Dan Kelly
07/08/2021
Recently, protestors took to the streets of major Australian cities to express their anger and dissatisfaction with the current pandemic lockdown. While there are many factors to be investigated as to why these protests occurred, there are several facts that confront us regardless. Entitled rich folk and their sycophants, who applauded the police for their heavy-handed repression of the protest and mocked those who attended for expressing their anger about the lockdown, need to check themselves and their privileged position. The fact of the matter is that for the working class, there are many reasons to be angry about the lockdown. However, we need to analyse these reasons and their underlying factors to understand that this justified anger should lead to class consciousness, and recognition of the true enemy.
Why Should I Be Angry?
In regards to this question, there are two main elements to be considered. Firstly, there is the need to look out for the health and safety of the population, and protect people from potential exposure to the virus both at work and in general. This must be done but it cannot be at the expense of the wellbeing of workers who comprise the population. The state and employers must be held accountable for failing to look out for the protection of workers jobs, incomes, homes, and rights. While there have been improvements in recent days, the overall response of the state and employers has been weak and comprised of half-arsed measures.
Half-Arsed Measures
The most obvious example was the early refusal of the NSW state government to implement adequate restrictions and protections when the outbreak first emerged. As this was in the wealthier areas of Sydney, the government as per usual caved into the corporate agenda and protected short-term interests of business profits over the health and safety of workers and the population at large. The unfolding of the Sydney lockdown has shown that for the Australian state, corporate profits are prioritised, whilst government spending and accountability are minimised.
Thankfully, the COVID Disaster Payments are now at $750 a week for workers who have lost more than 20 hours a week, with payments available for those who have lost 8 or more hours a week. However, these Disaster Payments are inaccessible for nearly 400, 000 people who already receive some form of payment from the government [1]. This includes people on other Centrelink or government payment programs, ranging from Youth Allowance to Veterans’ payments. Many working families are left in a dire situation, robbed of the extra income they rely on in addition to their usual welfare payments. This shameful issue has not been addressed by the government’s ‘relief’ program.
Additionally, this issue is compounded by the growth of the casualised workforce in Australia, with many people not having access to the protections of full or part-time employment. Furthermore, for those who become unemployed during the pandemic as businesses seek to protect their profit margins, they are left with a measly $310 a week from the grossly inadequate JobSeeker payment [2].
Furthermore, the government has refused to reinstate the JobKeeper program, which protected the employment status of workers. A petition to reinstate the program by Australian Unions has achieved 83,000 signatures, with people expressing their outrage at the inadequacy of other payments provided by the government [3]. Of great concern is the fact that these other payments don’t link workers to their employers, thus opening the door to further job losses and stand-downs. The original JobKeeper was a piece of corporate welfare and the overpayments to the super-profitable big business outlets who took them must be paid back. But it did have the effect of keeping some workers in jobs and must be re-introduced in a form that defends job, not profits.
Isolation Frustration
The implications of these half-arsed measures on working families has led to a great amount of isolation frustration. With people unable to work as normal, nor receive adequate financial support from the government, many face great pressures as they struggle to pay bills, rent and basic living costs. This means that people who are healthy have to expose themselves to health risks by picking up additional work, or worse that people who are unhealthy are forced to expose others to these health risks just so that they are able to survive. The lack of adequate safe working conditions and paid vaccination, test and isolation leave for all workers compounds this issue significantly. This has led to a class-based issue on who can afford to self-isolate, wherein impoverished workers face harsh penalties for attempting to eke out a living. This dynamic is reflected in the wider actions of the state and its forces, who are working not to protect working class lives, but rather bourgeois property and its interests.
Over-Policing
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the actions of the NSW Police during the lockdown. In contrast to the earlier relaxed attitudes when the latest wave was confined to the wealthy Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, we are now experiencing rampant over-policing, primarily in affected Western Sydney communities. Roadblocks, helicopter patrols, ID checks and other measures are being implemented to locate and then fine people who have breached the state’s health protocols. Of course, this is heavily linked with NSW state and police force’s rampant revenue-raising policy, raking in thousands from the fines issued.
Additionally, we now have the Army being sent into these communities to go door-to-door and check compliance orders [4]. The way these forces are being used shows the regard the state holds working class people and communities in. These forces aren’t being sent in to help deliver groceries and supplies to those in need. They aren’t being sent in to check the wellbeing of people suffering from the virus or isolation. They aren’t being sent in to help people suffering from loss of income. They aren’t being sent in to inform people of their rights and entitlements. Instead, they are being sent in to patrol and harass the communities current Local Government Areas that are subject to the strict health orders. And all eight of these LGAs are in Western and South-Western Sydney. Under such duress, and when combined with all of the above factors, how can one help but be angry?
Protests
Indeed, these issues and the anger they have caused in the community boiled over with the anti-lockdown protests the other week. In Sydney, of some 3500 protestors, 57 were arrested and charged on the day. In the wake of the event, Strike Force Seasoned was established to utilise 22 detectives to investigate and identify protestors who attended the event. As well as allocating such resources, the state placed a deterrent force of 1000 police officers in Sydney the following week to prevent another event. In looking at these protests, it is interesting to note the rhetoric of the state’s representatives on the matter. Premier Berejiklian was quick to dismiss the protestors, who she believed showed ‘utter contempt for their fellow citizens who are currently doing it tough’ [5]. Likewise, the NSW Police Minister called them ‘very selfish boofheads – people that thought the law didn’t apply to them’ [6]. Whilst Police Commissioner Mick Fuller and his deputy called the protestors ‘grubs’, as this was not the time for a protest [7].
This dialogue from these representatives of the state is notable for two key trends. First, the contrast between their language centred on community health and safety in comparison to their widespread disregard for such wellbeing in their policies. Secondly, and more importantly, is the trend in which the state is seizing the lockdown as an opportunity to stifle any expression of dissent and vilify those who attempt to bring attention to the failings of the state.
Now it must be stated that the anti-lockdown protests were at best a misguided expression of frustration with the failings of the government to adequately provide for the wellbeing of the community. Indeed, anti-government sentiments and issues with the police are justifiable, though they need to be expressed in a more conducive and productive manner. It is obvious that the state and its forces don’t care about the safety of the wider community, their wellbeing or their democratic right to voice dissent. We believe that people have a right to organise and stage protests, so long as they adhere to Health Protocols and guidelines to best protect the wellbeing of community members. This sentiment is supported by lawyers and legal professionals who have pushed for the recognition of protests under law as essential activities, so long as they comply with COVID-safe practices [8].
Similarly, the Human Rights Law Centre has called on the Australian state to adhere to their responsibility to ‘take reasonable steps to proactively facilitate safe and peaceful protest activity’, as is enshrined in international human rights law, providing a blueprint for how this can be done [9].
“But we must channel our anger against the systems that have caused these issues.”
The ramifications of this dangerous rhetoric was revealed recently when stood down workers from the AKAC Members of United Workers Union group took action with a ‘Safe from Covid, Safe from Poverty’ protest car convoy. The protest attempted to raise awareness to the shortcomings and inadequacies of the government’s current measures, calling for increased income support for employed and unemployed workers alike [10]. However, despite being a COVID-safe car convoy, the protestors were meant with a heavy-handed police crackdown by dozens of police, who slapped several protestors with $1000 fines.
The Real Enemy and Redirecting Anger
In light of this event, the working class of Sydney and Australia must recognise the real enemy, and redirect their anger accordingly. Are we angry because you are confined to your home and unable to live our lives as normal? Of course. But the lockdown itself is not why we should be angry. We should be angry because neoliberal Labor and Liberal governments have gutted and privatised our healthcare system for decades. We should be angry because organisations meant to help the community are instead oppressing them. We should be angry because working class communities are reduced to living off of handouts, confined to homes they often don’t own, while the wealthy elite self-isolate in style and comfort.
So is it wrong to voice dissent against a state that has no care for the working class whilst our health and wellbeing suffer and members of our community die? Fuck no. But we must channel our anger against the systems that have caused these issues. Let us not forget that the support they give us comes off taxes primarily paid by the working class, while the rich hoard their wealth, including through the use of dodgy avenues and offshore havens. Let us not forget that it is the very labour of the working class that creates the profit for these businesses and corporations, and that without us they would collapse. Let us not forget that the homes they threaten to evict us from were not built by a landlord, boss or banker, but by the hands of the labouring class. Let us claim what is rightfully ours, and never cease fighting against the system that robs us of what we have created. Should you be angry about the lockdown? Fucking oath you should. But if you are not also angry about the capitalist system of exploitation that has led to all the failures of the lockdown, then you are indeed a boofhead.
To join the fight against this system, find out how you can get involved with the Australian Communist Party here:
https://www.auscp.org.au/joinacp
The Australian Unions petition to extend JobKeeper can be found here:
This is a guide to the payments you can receive if impacted by the recent lockdowns:
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/covid-19-disaster-payment
This is a link to FoodBank for those who are experiencing difficulty in accessing groceries and other goods:
https://www.foodbank.org.au/contact-us/?state=nsw-act
References:
AKAC Members of United Workers Union. 2021. "Police Disperse Unionist Car Convoy."
Nguyen, Kevin. 2021. "NSW Police Warn 'Anarchists' Against Second Sydney Anti-Lockdown Protest". Abc.Net.Au. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-26/nsw-police-warn-against-second-sydney-anti-lockdown-protest/100323308.
"NSW Police Set Up Strike Force To Find Anti-Lockdown Protesters After Thousands Shut Down Sydney CBD". 2021. Abc.Net.Au. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-24/anti-covid-lockdown-protest-in-sydney-cbd/100320620.
O'Sullivan, Maria. 2020. "Protest In A Pandemic – The Special Status Of Public Spaces". COVID-19 & Public Law. Australian Public Law. https://auspublaw.org/2020/07/protest-in-a-pandemic-the-special-status-of-public-spaces/.
Pennington, Alison. 2021. "Excluding The Most Vulnerable From Covid Payments Isn’T Just Cruel – It Jeopardises Public Health". The Guardian, , 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/28/nsw-must-quash-the-covid-outbreak-and-it-cant-without-fair-and-just-income-support.
"Protest Rights In The COVID-19 Pandemic | Human Rights Law Centre". 2021. Human Rights Law Centre. https://www.hrlc.org.au/protest-rights-covid19.
Read, Michael. 2021. "Troops In Sydney As Soon As Monday". Financial Review, , 2021. https://www.afr.com/politics/troops-in-sydney-as-soon-as-monday-20210730-p58eej.
"Reinstate Jobkeeper". 2021. Megaphone. https://www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/coronavirus-extend-jobkeeper-and-jobseeker?__s=7xaajejwftviywtri3wx&utm_source=drip&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CA%3A+Reinstate+JK+2.0+%2F+CTA%3A+Petition&utm_content=The+pandemic+crisis+isn%E2%80%99t+over.+That%E2%80%99s+why+we+need%C2%A0JobKeeper%C2%A02.0+%C2%A0.
Swain, Sarah. 2021. "Chaos As Thousands Gather For Anti-Lockdown Protests". 9News.Com.Au. https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-updates-nsw-fines-sydney-lockdown-parties/50e2f654-23af-4876-99d7-d0f8394c92f4.
"Wild Scenes As Lockdown Rally Turns Violent In The Heart Of Sydney". 2021. 7NEWS. https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/thousands-of-anti-lockdown-protesters-swarm-streets-in-sydney-and-melbourne-c-3493808.
[1] Pennington, Alison. 2021. "Excluding The Most Vulnerable From Covid Payments Isn’T Just Cruel – It Jeopardises Public Health". The Guardian, , 2021.
[2] "Jobseeker Payment". 2021. Services Australia. https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/jobseeker-payment/how-much-you-can-get.
[3] "Reinstate Jobkeeper". 2021. Megaphone. https://www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/coronavirus-extend-jobkeeper-and-jobseeker?__s=7xaajejwftviywtri3wx&utm_source=drip&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CA%3A+Reinstate+JK+2.0+%2F+CTA%3A+Petition&utm_content=The+pandemic+crisis+isn%E2%80%99t+over.+That%E2%80%99s+why+we+need%C2%A0JobKeeper%C2%A02.0+%C2%A0.
[4] Read, Michael. 2021. "Troops In Sydney As Soon As Monday". Financial Review, , 2021. https://www.afr.com/politics/troops-in-sydney-as-soon-as-monday-20210730-p58eej.
[5] Swain, Sarah. 2021. "Chaos As Thousands Gather For Anti-Lockdown Protests". 9News.Com.Au.
[6] Nguyen, Kevin. 2021. "NSW Police Warn 'Anarchists' Against Second Sydney Anti-Lockdown Protest". Abc.Net.Au.
[7] "Wild Scenes As Lockdown Rally Turns Violent In The Heart Of Sydney". 2021. 7NEWS.
[8] O'Sullivan, Maria. 2020. "Protest In A Pandemic – The Special Status Of Public Spaces". COVID-19 & Public Law. Australian Public Law. https://auspublaw.org/2020/07/protest-in-a-pandemic-the-special-status-of-public-spaces/.
[9] "Protest Rights In The COVID-19 Pandemic | Human Rights Law Centre". 2021. Human Rights Law Centre. https://www.hrlc.org.au/protest-rights-covid19.
[10] AKAC Members of United Workers Union. 2021. "Police Disperse Unionist Car Convoy."