A letter from Peachy

Some months ago I met a woman called Peachy who was active in forest campaigning. She recently attended the G20 Protests in Melbourne. The event was planned as a peaceful protest with a carnival atmosphere, but the event overshadowed by violence both from some protesters and police.

Peachy wrote an impassioned and thoughtful response to these events, which she emailed to her friends and to activist groups with which she’s been involved:

“My name is Peachy. I am writing on my own behalf, am not part of a group or do not represent any one else’s opinion but my own.

“I have now worked in the environmental and social movement in Australia for over a decade. I have worked hard within mainstream, non-government organisations and grass roots organisations and have participated in blockading and in non-violent direct action. I am committed to facilitating social change, environmental awareness and protection, and strengthening community.

“Having some sense of the energy that potentially was to errupt at the G20 protest, I brought these objectives to the Stop G20 Carnivale event – with a strong commitment to trying to create (if possible) a space that was inclusive – and where people felt like they could be present at the G20 protest and Carnivale, in a non violent way. I personally tried to facilitate Indigenous involvement, the involvement of multicultural groups, and other sectors of the community that exist beyond my own loose social and working group.

“In effect I feel like my voice and actions have been silenced by the smaller group of individuals who chose to use violent and direct tactics on Saturday. By using force a certain group of individuals have drowned out the voices and messages of a lot of other people who were present at the rally.

“However the important thing to remember is that, despite media focus on the violent aspects, the fact is that a lot of different community groups were present, and were representing a diverse range of community concerns. These included Indigenous issues, nuclear issues, climate change, forestry and logging, anti war issues, the peace movement, the Mexican solidarity group, gay rights, and a huge array of other social concerns.

“I question why the media weren’t swarming like vultures around the speakers who were talking about the issues that are effecting public housing tennants or climate change, or the highschool band who were brave enough to want to come and play their music and add their voice to the larger group who have very legitimate concerns about the way our future is being dictated by our global and financial leaders.

“The reality is that the media were never interested in portraying this aspect, and in all the media interviews I have done since the weekend no one has been interested in discussing the real reasons why a lot of people chose to be present at the Saturday rally. Indeed, media representatives have openly admitted their brief has to been to focus on the violence and whilst they appreciated my opinions they weren’t interested in representing them.

“Unfortunately through my experience in recent environmental campaigns this sadly is the case – there is little interest from media unless there is confrontation or arrests. So what do you have to do to get media focus on your issue?

“Essentially I am very glad for my involvement in the response to the G20 meeting – for what I have contributed is in line with what I believe in and I will always work from that community inclusive approach. However, like many others I am being forced to deal with the fall out from the violent component of the protest, and it has been challenging to deal with – particlularly because my personal approach is based on different principles.

“The physical reality of my experience on Saturday was very different to what was portrayed in the media. Because I was so involved in trying to facilitate the community component of the day – which included bands, speakers, stalls, street theatre etc – I personally didn’t witness any of these ‘violent’ incidents, and it was only later in the day that I came to gain some understanding of other things that had happened, and the intensity of the atmosphere that prevailed.

“It was at that time that I then witnessed disturbing behaviour from both protestors, police, and the media and as a result feel very upset that it had to evolve that way. My personal vision for the day was very different – however the reality of the situation is is that a lot of different groups and individuals were involved in the day, and obviously there were a lot of people present who had different agenda’s. There was no ability to foresee or control how individuals would act. I did my best at that time to try and defuse aspects of the situation however by that later stage of the day it had gone beyond that.

“Despite the fact that their were many different groups and individuals present on the Saturday, there was however and in my personal opinion, something that drew most of us together. This was a collective desire to protest against a group of global leaders who are dictating conditions that are inherently based on corporate values and increasing wealth, and which show little regard for the preserving our natural environment or are condusive to creating any form of sustainable future.

“I believe we are at a critical juncture in history where some huge decisions need to be made to ensure that we have a way forward from here. Most analysts predict that we have a window of opportunity within this next decade to address particularly the environmental crisis that is looming on our horizon. Global leaders are unwilling to address the seriousness of this situation, still talking economy over environment, promoting profit over people and the real needs of community. There seems that there is no way we are able to make these leaders listen. How many rally’s does there have to be to get the message through? Thousands of people mobilised against the War in Iraq (and look what a mess that has turned out to be), thousands are mobilising against climate change, thousands are mobilising against the recent IR laws, there’s a rally or three in Melbourne every week, and there are thousands of people who are working incredibly hard in their own communities to fight for their local environments – yet still we are not seeing the strong leadership that is required to ensure that we have some form of a sustainable future.

“Really it should have been the G20 leaders who were down there on the frontline defending the decisions they are making – not the police.

“I believe a lot of people are starting to feel despair. The front page of the Sun Herald on Sunday summed it up perfectly by having half the page devoted to denouncing the protesters as thugs, then the other half saying how the G20 leaders had decided to drill for more oil, and that they had decided to agree to disagree about climate change!

“No wonder people feel angry – I feel angry that there is not real discourse or desire to address the serious challenges that humanity is facing. I feel angry that I sense my child will not be able to enjoy the quality of life I have been able to experience. I feel angry that a lot of the people (particularly posting comment in the media) who are quick to denouce the protestors, come from the generation that a lot of us are a product of – yes, the baby boomers – without any real acknowledgement of their role in helping to create the world, the system, the environment that we are living in.

“So yes I understand why certain people have chosen to express themselves as they have, but I do not support it and it is not my vision of a way forward.

“There are huge ramifications from people who chose to use violence at protests, ramifications that will effect everyone who is working in environmental change movements within Australia. The reality of the situation is that from this point onwards more laws will be passed, more force will be used and people who want to protest will even futher be oppressed. The violence that occurred over the weekend will also help to further polarise people’s beliefs about protesting and protestors. Less people in the future will be inclined to support social and environmental actions. So thus we catalyse the situation and conditions that we protest and rally against. Lets acknowledge that ‘good protesting’ has managed to achieve quite a lot – although of course never enough. By upping the ante people have chosen to up the ante for all of us, and now we all will have to work in increasingly more constricted and unfavourable conditions. However lets also not forget that this is not the first time rally’s have erupted or riots have occurred in Autralia – we can only look back to Vietnam, or even recently to what occurred in Cronulla as examples of such public discontent.

“Personally all I can do from this point onwards is continue to work in a way that is true to my own values – values of helping to create community, helping to raise awareness of environmental issues, creating discourse around finding solutions, creating discourse on how we can find news ways to communicate amongst each other. There has been a huge change in mainstream consciousness in this last year particularly with climate change, the drought and the water crisis and I personally feel that all hope is not lost – although I do acknowledge that we face huge challenges ahead, and that the path is not going to be easy.

“I would like to personally acknowledge the depth and breadth of courage, resilience, strength, and dedication that exists amongst people who are working hard in environmental and social change movements within Australia. Despite the demonisation of these people by media and politicians alike, the fact is that most of these people are people who generally care and are concerned for our future and work hard for utlimately the benefit of everyone.

“I would also like to point out to everyone who is so quick to condemn the violence and the protestors generally, that you only have to turn on your TV screens or read the newspapers to see such gross displays of violence occurring within Australia and all over the world every day. We’ve become far too desensitised. More people need to care – that’s the reality of the situation – otherwise the world wouldn’t be in such a bloody mess.

“It seems the way for the future however, and it leaves me despairing, and if I didn’t have my little boy to remind me about the beauty and joy contained in living, and keeping me committed to fighting for his future, then I don’t know if I would still be alive – because the pain that exists in living and in what I perceive around me is at times simply too much to bear. But besides my little boy, I also have a strong community of good people around me, a spiritual connection to this land which continues to sustain me, and an acknowledgement of how incredibly lucky I am to be alive and be able to eat and drink unpolluted water, to not be under direct threat from war. Others are not so lucky.

“These are difficult times. We must all examine how we act within our communities, we must all examine our own personal vision of the future we want to exist in, and we must all take personal responsibility for our actions.

“We must as individuals and as communities come up with solutions to the problems that we face, because if we leave it up to political leaders then its going to be too late. There has to be a full fledged debate about the system that we exist within – and how it can be changed to support a sustainable future.

“Personally I want to see more debate around decreasing energy and water consumption, there has to be a much greater promotion and push for alternative energy, a stop to clearfelling practices, addressing the fact that our fishing industry is at point of collapse, discuss Australia’s increasing militarisation and alignment with American values, address the genocide of Indigenous people in this country, address the huge ramifications of nuclear mining/energy/waste disposal, and lets decide that every new house built should have a rainwater tank and solar power installed for God’s sake!

“There is a lot that each and everyone of us can do and it is all important – every action that we as individuals and as a collective make is vital at this point in time.

“My name is Peachy. I am not an expert in anything except my own experience. I am an environmental events coordinator, I work on forestry and nuclear campaigns, I am involved in reconciliation initiatives, I am a performer, an artist, a mother.”