There was much to do in Melbourne on Saturday: the annual Zombie Shuffle was brought forward by two weeks; opponents of the planned destruction of one of Melbourne’s most important live music venues rallied at Parliament Reserve; Melbourne took its part in a worldwide March against Monsanto; and there was the annual March for Babies by anti-abortionists, countered by pro-choice supporters. It was obviously not possible to attend the whole of each of these events, since they overlapped, but we did our best, and the weather helped for once.
The plan is to turn this into a luxury hotel
If organisers were hoping for thousands to turn out they will have been disappointed, but given the competing events it was quite respectable:
MC was Julia Zemiro of RocKwiz and other fame:
The Save the Palace Facebook and event pages contain extensive background material and links to a petition, and the campaign has also been covered in the music world, for example by Tone Deaf and faster louder (see also Music Feeds and this in the Sydney Morning Herald
Later in the day this was the frontage of the theatre:
The original venue for the above rally was announced as the steps of Parliament House, but that had already been earmarked for the end of the annual March for Babies
As in previous years, police had divided the area in front of Parliament House with a view to keeping the two sides well apart, and by 12.30 the side reserved for Pro-Choice supporters was well occupied, while Pro-Life supporters were assembling in the Treasury Gardens prior to marching through the CBD to their side of the steps, where a PA system and banners had been prepared:
(The last photo above was taken somewhat later than the others, on the way to the March against Monsanto, of which more later.)
We had made the decision to move on to the Zombie shuffle, so missed most of what followed. It seems the Pro-Choice supporters marched to meet the Pro-Life march and there was a confrontation, variously reported in the mainstream media (for example http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2013/10/12/18/50/mp-says-he-was-assaulted-in-abortion-rally and http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/antiabortion-protesters-in-clash-during-cbd-rally/story-fni0fee2-1226738911785) and the respective Facebook pages. After this it seems the bulk of the counter-marchers dispersed, while the rest continued to heckle the marchers and occupy the head of the march:
(This was in Bourke Street heading towards Parliament House; we had been at the Monsanto protest and followed its march down Swanston Street this far, before making for Parliament House just in time to catch up with the March for Babies.)
As the march neared the top end of Bourke Street, the Pro-Choice activists broke into a run and were able to position themselves in front of the Pro-Life stage before the march proper arrived, apparently taking the police flat footed.
At this point the side of the steps reserved for the Pro-Choice counter rally was almost deserted, and a contingent of police occupied the upper steps:
Unfortunately, that is as far as this site is able to provide a first-hand account; our time had run out. But the respective Facebook pages are there to fill in the gaps:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/March-For-The-Babies/105936922804480
https://www.facebook.com/events/428242667285109/
https://www.facebook.com/events/688190664544348/
[Added 12 January 14: this post should have included a link to the report with comments on the website of the Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group. And another report worth a look is this from Ali Ryan which appeared shortly after the above:http://aliryanphotography.com/2013/10/17/abortion-rally-2013/]
The scene just before 3pm
Strictly speaking the Zombie Shuffle should have come before this, followed by the March against Monsanto, but the Shuffle produced so many photos we decided to bring the Monsanto event forward – of course, it actually preceded the events just described, but this post has long given up trying to be linear.
Once again we have to rely largely on a Facebook page for detail, and indeed, the coming of Facebook has largely made sites of this kind redundant, which in turn is one reason why updates are infrequent (the archive is plodding along). But we do have a few photos, including the one above, taken at the State Library towards the end of the rally which preceded the march down Swanston Street:
We noticed that some participants carried references to a film GMO OMG shown at the recent Melbourne Environmental Film Festival. (That was a hint, although there is so far no word of further screenings here.)
And so we come to undoubtedly the best-attended event of the day, though leaving aside the question whether it can legitimately be called a protest – the
Zombie Shuffle 2013
This year the assembly point was moved to the Fitzroy Gardens instead of the Carlton Gardens, a good move on the whole, avoiding the confusion of last year (see report here) though there seems so have been some difficulty with streets blocked off for other events – something that might not have arisen if the Shuffle had been held at the end of the month, as previously? (See this report in The Age.)
There is probably nothing to say except that the event was obviously a great success, if anything more comprehensively photographed than even last year, and so indeed we pass on to the largest gallery yet posted on this site for a single event, randomly presented from the assembly and the beginning of the march:
