March in March marks the birth of a new kind of activism

For the past two days, a series of rolling political protests have taken place across Australia. Known as the March in March, the movement has rallied specifically against the Abbott government and more broadly against the coalition’s policies – like the forced incarceration of asylum seekers – that Labor also supports. Demanding “decency, accountability and transparency�, the marches have already mobilized upwards of 100,000 people, with the march in Melbourne yesterday – at which I spoke – attracting an estimated 30,000 participants.

The marches have caused controversy within Australian politics, not merely because their anti-coalition sentiments have predictably inflamed the political right. In the Herald-Sun, Andrew Bolt hit peak froth to schedule, while the young Liberal ranks on Twitter have spent a sleepless night scanning rally photographs to demonise thousands of considered adults with one or two pictures of surly teenagers who bore unwisely-worded banners. Yet while it’s understandable that as a target of policy criticism the Labor Party chose to keep its head down, the Greens were also a more subtle presence than usual in the marches, and activist group GetUp! all but invisible. Intriguingly, despite organizing around explicit principles of “humanity, decency, fairness, social justice and equity�, the movement actually attracted consternation from Australia’s establishment left, with Simon Copland writing in Guardian Australia that the movement didn’t offer “credible alternatives� beyond “tearing the government down�.

Certainly, the March in March’s early claim to rally a “voice of no confidence� in the Abbott government had unfortunate echoes of the embarrassing Convoy of No Confidence that rallied the marginal right against Julia Gillard. The aim, however, was not to agitate for an actual no confidence parliament vote in the prime minister, as the Convoy cavalcade sought of Gillard. Rather than revealing an extremist political programme, the slogan was simply the awkward expression of an unexpected and inexperienced movement.

The emergence of March in March is both a hopeful story for progressive Australia and a phenomenon that the right ridicules at its peril. Abbott had reached a hundred days in office, and discontent at the rapid pace of policy change from a coalition that had promised “no surprises, no excuses� was fermenting. A single tweet from a supermarket employee in regional Victoria suggesting a “march in March� gained currency as a Twitter hashtag, appealing in its sentiments of organizing against political frustration with “some kind� of anti-government direct action.

As more was revealed about the treatment of asylum-seekers on Manus Island, moral anger outstripped the political, and a movement of tweeters who were outraged by the Liberals, ashamed by Labor and uninspired by the Greens expanded their desire for an activist outlet to Facebook. Someone emailed GetUp! to seek support for a rally … and they never heard back.

Five key organisers – from Geraldton in Western Australia, Daylesford in Victoria, the Blue Mountains, Kempsey and Broken Hill in New South Wales, none of whom had ever met beyond social media – began organizing anyway. The catalyst to plan the rallies was feminist group Destroy the Joint’s “send tampons to Morrison� campaign, which convinced the group of the effectiveness of social media in activism. Via Twitter and Facebook, a geographically decentraliszed plan for rallies emerged.

These were not greatly experienced activists – the Melbourne rally organizer did not even own a mobile phone. But those who think that the movement lacks a “credible� programme or is crowded with too many issues are missing the point. The organic, decentralized movement of non-partisan mass participation is its programme in itself. All of March in March’s many policy positions are simply an electoral yearning for community values – of inclusion, infrastructure and sustainability – to be the informing principle of government policy.

As a movement that has landed more than 100,000 Australians on the streets because they feel excluded, ignored, neglected and abandoned by Abbott’s government, Abbott’s blurted retort that the only march he knew about “was St Patrick’s Day� was as politically idiotic as it was galvanizing. Political parties are no longer the channel of activism in this country; they have become its target. To ignore those willing to nationally organize and march is to ignore those willing to fundraise, leaflet, doorknock and campaign to bring about the representation they feel is denied them. Or have the Coalition forgotten so soon the lessons of Indi?