Occupy: a global moment or a movement?

Hagar Cohen: Ever since the global financial crisis, volatility has stalked the big stock exchanges. Wall Street has been propped up by a massive government bailout, while ordinary Americans continue to lose homes and jobs. And Europe is back on the precipice of another, even bigger credit crunch. A climate of insecurity has settled over middle and working class communities from New York to London, Madrid, Tel Aviv and Rome. It’s propelled a wave of street protests, most notably the Occupy movement, with its catchcry, ‘We are the 99 per cent’.

Occupy started in Wall Street to protest against corporate greed, and it spread quickly across the globe. Mini tent cities sprang up, occupying town squares and parks in around a thousand towns and cities.

One of the biggest protests is in Spain, where unemployment is running at 25 per cent and youth unemployment more like 50 per cent.

Miguel Yarza: So many people—not only young people; families, old people too, people losing their jobs, every kind of person here in Spain took part in this demonstration.

Hagar Cohen: While hundreds of thousands have joined Occupy protests at various times, Occupy campers have kept their vigil for months. They’re a hardy bunch, persisting through rain, hail and tear gas. But as Christmas approaches, many of the occupations are facing their own crunch-time, as weather, the police, and internal divisions threaten their survival.

I’m Hagar Cohen, and today on Background Briefing, we go inside the movement and ask who are the occupiers, what do they want, and can their movement survive?

Mark Goudkamp: We are at a bit of a crossroads in terms of the movement. I think the dynamics of just focussing on the occupation sites are sort of a recipe for us slowly dwindling.

Hagar Cohen: While Occupy Sydney, now down to a handful of campers, contemplates its future, Occupy London is contemplating the onset of winter.

Spyro Van Leemnen: Well, this is a social experiment, so it’s growing organically. Now, we’ve been here for about a month in London. Obviously we are aware that the winter is coming and it’s not going to be easy.

Hagar Cohen: And in New York, where Occupy began, local authorities have acted with force. In mid-November, Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared the camp had to go.

Michael Bloomberg (archival): The First Amendment gives every New Yorker the right to speak out—but it does not give anyone the right to sleep in a park or otherwise take it over to the exclusion of others… [T]he First Amendment protects speech—it does not protect the use of tents and sleeping bags to take over a public space.

Protesters have had two months to occupy the park with tents and sleeping bags. Now they will have to occupy the space with the power of their arguments.

Hagar Cohen: The NYPD moved in.

(Sounds from protest)

This eviction was filmed on mobile phones and sent around the world.

Protester (archival): Shoot me, I’m recording you. Shoot me!

Hagar Cohen: And on the other side of the country, police tried to break up an Occupy sit-in at the University of California, Davis. Police officers walked along the line of seated protesters, spraying them with pepper spray at point blank range.

David Buscho, protester (archival): It felt like hot glass was entering my eyes. I couldn’t see anything. I wanted to open my eyes, but every time I did, the pain got worse. I wanted to breathe, but I couldn’t because my face was covered in pepper spray and every time I breathed I was nauseous. I couldn’t see anything. I was paralysed with fear. And that’s the truth.

Hagar Cohen: It has since emerged that one of the police officers responsible for the pepper spray is in financial strife himself and there are calls for him to join the 99 per cent.

Attempts to break up the occupations have made protesters more determined. This song by US occupier Jeremy Gilchrist, reflects that feeling.

(Protest song, Jeremy Gilchrist)

But as time goes by, there’s pressure from inside the movement as well to face up to the realities of a 24/7 occupation. Occupy started with a bang, but three months on, the movement is facing an identity crisis. Put simply, there’s a split between those who feel they must stay put and occupy and those who believe it’s time to move on and take another approach.

In Australia, where better economic conditions have meant a smaller movement, discussions are about how to gather more support. The Sydney occupation is located in Martin Place, in the central business district. Although it’s against the local laws to stay overnight, there are still one or two people who stay there into the night and throughout the day.

(Sound from meeting at Occupy Sydney)

Regular meetings are also held here. They’re known within global Occupy as general assemblies, or GAs.

(Sound from meeting at Occupy Sydney)

This is a decision-making process where everyone gets an opportunity to speak and vote. The idea is to reach consensus. In this Sydney GA, participants are discussing whether there’s a future for their occupation.

Erima: (Addressing audience) We met with those people and I think there is a serious danger, actually, that this movement is not going to survive Christmas. If it wasn’t for the international situation, I would say that would be a certainty.

(Men in audience call out ‘I’ll be here after Christmas!’)

Hagar Cohen: It was unpopular speech, but a young protester, called Erima, spoke her mind anyway.

 Erima: (Addressing audience) We have to go out and find the people who are pissed off at O’ Farrell, who are pissed off at Gillard, who hate, you know, Qantas, who hate Alan Joyce, who are sick of the billion dollars’ profits that mining companies are making. We have to go find those people.

To sit here and say they have to find us, they have to try and understand what we’re about, is ridiculous. We have to find those messages, those slogans that actually connect with them, go out to the suburbs if we have to. And I think the idea that we cannot change is absolutely absurd. What are we about? Are we about the 99 per cent and the movement, or are we about, you know, an occupation for an occupation’s sake? Because I’m certainly not.

Hagar Cohen: Next on the speaking list is Allan.

Allan: (Addressing audience) One thing that’s clear to me is that Occupy isn’t like a hobby, it’s not a part-time activity.

(Man in audience calls out ‘It’s an occupation!’)

It’s an occupation, as someone’s just pointed out. Because I believe personally that either you’re a part of Occupy or you’re not. And being part of Occupy is your commitment to support the occupation in Martin Place.

Hagar Cohen: Erima’s complaint was rejected at that meeting, but her sentiment reflects the way many in the general public are puzzled by what Occupy’s all about; for example, here, where a gentleman was approached on the street to sign a petition.

Protester: (To man on street) Like, that’s where Occupy is different. It’s not a protest that will go away and swept under the carpet. That’s why we’re here.

Man: No, no, no. You know, people are allowed to make their point, but up to a point. After you take it beyond that, then you’re provoking. You cannot just go on.

Hagar Cohen: Occupy has been the subject of regular media scorn. And if it wants more support, it needs to express its objectives clearly, says Professor Dennis Altman.

Dennis Altman: A social movement to become effective politically has to have some clear aims. So, Occupy Wall Street is, I think, a really genuine expression of disillusionment with the US political system. I think it is born of a deeply corrupt political system. Occupy Melbourne, Occupy Sydney, on the other hand, strike me as rather bizarre imitations. We’re not in the same situation as the US, our political system is far more responsive, and it’s not clear to me that the people in Australia who rushed out onto the streets are following an agenda that makes particular sense in our context.

Hagar Cohen: Dennis Altman is professor of political science at La Trobe University and he was a pioneering gay rights activist in the ‘70s.

Dennis Altman: I think there is a lot to be said for street theatre, there’s a lot to be said for political protest, but you have to somehow tie that in to what the issues of the day are. And I’ve struggled, looking at the websites of Occupy Sydney and Occupy Melbourne, to figure out what exactly their concerns are. Most of the website is actually taken up with concerns about the legality of the protest—where I have great sympathy with them—how to deal with police, how to deal with lawyers, and the process of the demonstration, of the protest. Now, I have deep sympathy with this as a child of the counterculture, but that doesn’t actually affect the way in which politics are played out. And at some point there has to be some clarity what exactly do they want.

Hagar Cohen: The movement in Australia won’t last long, says Dennis Altman.

Dennis Altman: I don’t think we’re going to have a new social movement out of it, which in some ways, I think, is a great pity. But I think certainly it is a point at which a lot of young people, particularly, are being radicalised and of course I think that’s… I like that. But I think it has to then become much smarter, both politically and intellectually. There has to be some radical critique and some radical alternative and that’s what I see lacking.

(Rain and thunder)

Hagar Cohen: Behind the scenes, the occupiers in Australia are busily debating the key questions: who are they and what is Occupy all about? In Melbourne’s Treasury Gardens, on one rainy Saturday afternoon, around 50 occupiers are holding a general assembly to see if they can get agreement on a draft manifesto.

Occupy protester: We have called it our first declaration. It’s our first attempt...

Hagar Cohen: They came up with a one-page declaration that explains Occupy Melbourne.

Occupy protester: We could read it out. Who wants to hear it?

(Audience calls out, ‘Yeah!’)

Hagar Cohen: They first read it together.

(Reading from the declaration: ‘Our vision. We recognise that we occupy already occupied land...’)

Hagar Cohen: It goes on to say that members are opposed to the way democracy works today because they see it as unjust.

(Reading from the declaration: ‘We seek broad social change and aspire to end all forms of exploitation, oppression, and marginalisation. We envision...’)

Hagar Cohen: And they say the financial and political elites need to be more transparent and inclusive.

(Reading from the declaration: ‘We believe that there is nothing more powerful than an engaged people, inspired by the vision of a better future.’ Applause.)

Hagar Cohen: The forum is now open for debate, and first up, Arthur is strongly opposed to the declaration.

Arthur: If we’re very lucky, the press will ignore it. If they don’t ignore it, they will be able to write confirming the theory that we’ve got nothing to say. This statement just says, ‘We’re in favour of all good, nice, warm and fuzzy things and we’re against all bad, evil, and nasty things.’ You can’t build a movement on that kind of stuff and you won’t get there by chanting it, either.

Sabina: Hi. My name’s Sabina. I’m an autonomous activist with anarchist leanings. I would just like to address Arthur. We are attempting to build a new world in the shell of the old. It’s very important that we be open and inclusive and I’m very, very much against any attempt to come up with any proscriptive platforms, because I think that legitimises the state and the system we’re attempting to replace with something more inclusive.

So I really enjoy this document. I think it’s a beacon that will attract a lot of people, because the aims and objectives and values expressed within are very broad—who could argue with this document? And... well, except Arthur... (Laughter) We love you, Arthur...

Hagar Cohen: This is a diverse group. There are small businesspeople, students and professionals. Anya works for a multinational company.

Anya: I work for a multi-billion dollar corporation. OK, what I really liked about the declaration is of course I agree with all the sentiments, the values are good. What I didn’t like about the declaration is it sounds just like the vision statement for my corporation and probably hundreds of others, which means that people are used to it, they don’t really pay attention to it anymore, they don’t hear the words. They don’t believe it, because the corporations say one thing and do another and we sound just like them. And people are getting immune. We need, like, concise, maybe blunt, words, maybe something real.

Tal: So we are going to officially close the...

Hagar Cohen: The Melbourne group is the only ongoing 24-hour occupation in Australia, but it hasn’t been easy. They’ve been tested constantly by the authorities, by each other, and by the weather. It’s the second rainy night in a row, which means sleeping will be difficult. The local bylaws here prevent them from setting up any semi-permanent fixtures, like tents.

(To protester) You’re going to sleep here tonight, Sarah?

Sarah; Yes, I am.

Hagar Cohen: Twenty-year-old Sarah is one of the full-time occupiers here. She has now stopped paying rent and resigned from her part-time work in order to occupy. Tonight, she’ll be staying in what’s known as the taco tent.

Sarah: Last night we had a large tarp in which we constructed a few tent poles, that we could all stay in, because the issue is right now we’re sleeping in huge tarp structures that we just fold over our face. And it becomes incredibly difficult to breathe, very unsanitary. It gets wet, condensation from people’s breaths, the rain gets in. So basically we call them tarp tacos; we just fold them over ourselves and we become the fillings.

Hagar Cohen: And how many people are in the same tarp taco?

Sarah: Oh, probably about 15. Depends how cuddly you want to get and also how cold it is.

Hagar Cohen: And essentially you’re doing that because you’re not allowed to have proper tents?

Sarah: Yes. We’re not allowed to have structures. But we, like, we have enough blankets to provide people. It’s just they get wet during the night. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night and it was pouring rain and all the blankets were soaked. But there was a tarp on me, so I thought, ‘Well, as long as I’m not being directly rained on I can probably get through this.’

Hagar Cohen: Melbourne occupier, Sarah. As the occupation has gone on this group has had to constantly protect their camp.

(Police arriving at camp)

Protester (archival): So here it goes. The police are arriving. They’re going to start to move people, it looks like.

Hagar Cohen: It’s a never ending battle ground. The council and police move in; the protesters either pack up or defend their belongings. And although it’s been a passive resistance, a number of people have been arrested. And Sarah, as we’ll hear later, was subjected to an extraordinary police intervention. As we’ll also hear, the prominent QC, Ron Merkel, is acting on behalf of Occupy Melbourne to challenge the council’s evictions. But for now, it’s goodnight.

Jef Reinten: Sorry to interrupt fellas... So the skeletons up to the communal tent tonight. Does anyone want to put some bedding in it for themselves?

Man: Yeah, we’ll chuck some stuff in.

Jef Reinten: This is the moment to do it, before I wrap the top over.

Hagar Cohen: The next morning, when Background Briefing visits, some of the overnight occupants are visibly flagging.

Baron: I’ve got a bit of a sore throat, actually. I was losing my voice near the end of the night, so a bit low on energy.

Jef Reinten: A bit low on energy. Yeah, yeah, no doubt. So I think I’ll probably just have a quick look at you. Just open your mouth and we’ll have a look inside there. I’ll get my torch out and have a look. Oh yeah, it is a little bit red.

Hagar Cohen: Luckily there’s a medico on site. Dr Jef Reinten’s skills are in high demand, as illness spreads throughout the camp.

Jef Reinten: Last night we had a bit of a sprinkle down. Our communal tent managed to protect us from that and we have adequate bedding to really keep us warm enough for that. That’s contrasted with the night before, which is when the council took our structure away. We slept outside, it was very cold, we all got wet. A number of people have not been able to return, simply because of illness. We all woke up drenched and cold, demoralised. It really felt like a psychological attack by the council upon us, and also attack upon our bodies.

Hagar Cohen: Jef Reinten is a recent med school graduate from Ballarat.

Jef Reinten: I actually had my final exams and my final couple of weeks of university in Ballarat and I was trying to do both things: Occupy and go to university. But I think there comes a time when you have to accept that sacrifices have to be made to create the world that we want.

Hagar Cohen: According to Jef Reinten, Occupy Australia is not focussed on reforming the financial system. It’s about a much more radical concept of democracy, and the occupation is their way of testing their ideals.

Jef Reinten: Well, we can see this overnight occupation partly as a vigil. We can also see it as a model system of inclusive democracy. I believe that when people really want to work as a community together, they simply need to create conditions where they have to rely upon each other. So by occupying overnight, the participants have no choice but to collaborate with each other. And this contrasts rather nicely with the way I feel that the external world is functioning at the moment.

Hagar Cohen: Jef Reinten says inclusive democracy is hard to practise.

Jef Reinten: Our model of operation simply wouldn’t work, as it sits today, to form a complex society. But what we’re doing is exploring our ideals within the context of actually having to rely upon each other for our fundamental needs. And that reshapes the whole way you talk to someone. If you want to have an argument with someone about something as abstract as injustice within the court system, or something like that, you can have a much more fruitful discussion if you also need to rely on that person for, say, food...

Hagar Cohen: But, Jef, is anyone listening to you?

Jef Reinten: Hmm, I mean, that’s a really good question. I mean, how do we make them listen to us? Whether or not the movement will succeed, I mean, all popular movements are prefaced on their popular support and you can’t really fabricate that.

Hagar Cohen: To get more support, some in Occupy Melbourne have started making connections with trade unions. But that relationship has been bitter sweet. It emerged when chicken factory employees at the company Baiada formed a picket line demanding better conditions and better pay. Occupy Melbourne saw it as a natural fit and joined in using the now familiar Occupy chanting style.

(Protesters chant slogans)

Soon, other collaborations followed and just recently Occupy marched alongside unionised nurses at their protest in Melbourne. A member of that union, Jason, who’s an intensive care nurse and an occupier, was attempting to strengthen those ties. Occupy was enthusiastic; the union, not so.

Jason: (Laughs) Here’s a story for you. So, in the second GA I stood up in front of about 300 people and I told them about how the Victorian government are cutting care to patients, going to cut nurse ratios, cutting pay, cutting conditions—I told them the whole story. They went mad! They gave a big round of applause.

So then I’ve been to my union, I’ve talked to my organiser, I’ve written to the chief secretary, et cetera. Wall of silence. I think... I appreciate that they were going be politically worried that they’re going to get compromised, but I think the trouble is with the unions, they’re too close to the one per cent, the powers that be, so they like their lovely little bureaucratic jobs. Whether they realise it or not, they’re not truly representative of rank and file ‘cos they’re not rank and file themselves.

Hagar Cohen: And if the unions will endorse the Occupy movement in Australia, what do you think will happen in terms of your power and influence?

Jason: To be honest, I see that as the next stage. That’s why I’m here.

(Sound from protests)

Hagar Cohen: There have been other attempts globally to connect with unions. Recently a union rally in Britain attracted 2,000,000 workers onto the streets. Occupy joined in with its own stunt, breaking into an Xstrata building.

Journalist (archival): And apparently it’s the headquarters of Xstrata and the CEO is one of the highest paid and that’s why they were occupying that building to protest against corporate greed, they said.

Hagar Cohen: There are still around 1000 people daily at the Occupy London camp, where one day Julian Assange came to visit. He was seen chanting in the signature Occupy style.

(Occupy protesters chant)

Morale is still high at Occupy London, but as Christmas approaches, they’re facing fresh challenges. Here’s Spyro Van Leemnen from Occupy London:

Spyro Van Leemnen: Well, this is a social experiment, so it’s growing organically. Now we’ve been here for about a month in London, obviously we are aware that the winter is coming and it’s not going to be easy. But what we would like to see is to see the general assemblies and the decision making process that we have evolve and excel and the occupying movement to spread at local level; so, for example, in towns around the UK, using public space for debates. And then once this happens, we would like to make those general assemblies work at the national level and ideally at an international level.

Hagar Cohen: Occupy is located in the shadow of St Paul’s cathedral and that’s created a huge dilemma for the church. Do they protect the tent city, or insist its occupants move on? Initially, a decision was made to close the cathedral until they leave. The dean of the cathedral, Rt Revd Graeme Knowles, made this statement:

Graeme Knowles (archival): The decision to close St Paul’s Cathedral is unprecedented in modern times...We have done this with a very heavy heart... Some will rightly say that the Church should be alongside those seeking equality and financial probity. We are... But today is about our ability, practically, to carry on our mission with free and open access to this public space.

Hagar Cohen: This move created tensions that drove the dean to resign, as well as the canon chancellor, Giles Fraser, who is speaking here to the BBC:

Giles Fraser (archival): I resigned because I believe that chapter was set on a course of action that could ultimately lead to violence to protesters being forcibly moved on. I think it’s about the church using violence in order to protect itself and that’s something that I believe that it shouldn’t do.

Hagar Cohen: Occupier, Spyro Van Leemnen, says the church should actively support the occupation.

Spyro Van Leemnen: Obviously that wasn’t our intention, to challenge the cathedral; however, I think that was an interesting time for the church, because they had to revise what they stand for: do they stand for the people or do they stand for big business? Many of the people within the church could answer that question by saying, ‘Well, Jesus would be there camping.’ So that was a very challenging time for the church.

Hagar Cohen: A global internet community was following the developments via Occupy London’s Livestream channel. Many argue that this is the reason why St Paul’s, in the end, let them stay. The protesters are constantly feeding Livestream footage and other online information. Australian occupier and Twitter activist, Asher Wolf:

Asher Wolf: I’m seeing a lot of people that haven’t used Twitter before who are learning to use it very quickly to become activists on the ground. They’re becoming citizen journalists on the fly. It’s really fascinating to watch. Particularly Livestream is very powerful; using Ustream on your mobile to capture police actions on the spot so that there’s a global audience watching live can really affect the outcome of police action.

(Sound from protest)

We saw in Sydney, where people were occupying an empty building and the police came in with, I think, 100 police and numerous police dogs, and the response was to get a Livestream going, because there was only five occupiers in the building and 100 police and it looked like it was going to be quite outrageous. And we got a Livestream down there and almost immediately there was 100 people watching from all around the world. And then there was 1000.

(Sound from protest)

And they were all screaming at the police via Twitter, ‘Don’t hurt them. Don’t push people. They have a right to be there.’

Hagar Cohen: The way technology’s used in this wave of protests is breaking new ground, says Asher Wolf.

Asher Wolf: There’s hacker spaces set up, or hacker labs, where people are investigating new technologies or building aps or finding ways that they can support the actions of Occupy Wall Street. They may build an ap that allows people to communicate in a faster way when they’re trying to log where police are moving, or trying to record what items they need for the occupiers. Basically, there’s a wonderful thing going on right now, which is that we’re breaching the gap between hacktivists and the general public, and that’s giving people a new sense of power.

Hagar Cohen: Back at the camp in Melbourne, as the night falls, the protesters are lucky because tonight the weather is on their side. Tommy, who plays the guitar, is entertaining the overnight stayers.

(Tommy singing with guitar)

Across the lawn there’s a meeting for the few who volunteered to guard the camp at night.

Shaun: What watch do you need me?

Jason: Two to four would be really nice.

Shaun: Who else is on?

Jason: Sean.

Shaun: Yeah, I’ll stay up with Sean.

Hagar Cohen: Jason, a sound engineer by trade, has taken the role of head night owl. He takes the night’s volunteers through the procedures.

Jason: Purposes are to watch the camp from there and to watch down this passage down here.

Sean: On the other side of the garden you mean?

Jason: On the other side of the garden. Because the members of our lovely police force have been assembling inside the Treasury Building complex and then marching up through here to get the element of surprise and make us all go, ‘Argh!’

Hagar Cohen: The guards are also told to be aware of a particular man who’s been causing some trouble at the camp.

Shaun: I’ve actually got a photo of the gentleman to clear it up. Dude, I’m prepared. I told you any legal interactions; I document ‘em. Where’s a nice mug shot of him? There we go! It’s this gentleman you’re referring to.

Jason: Yeah, this gentleman here. Other than that, be extra vigilant because the police will be cracking down this week.

Hagar Cohen: The first night shift begins at midnight. Nearby, four uniformed security officers are guarding the Treasury Building and keeping an eye on the protesters. But these security guards are friendly.

Guard: (To protester) I don’t drink tea, actually. Give me a strong coffee anytime.

Hagar Cohen: They reveal that they’d rather be camping with the protesters than guarding the Treasury Building.

Guard: They’d know is by heart that I am with them. Doesn’t matter, I have uniform, but it doesn’t matter.

Hagar Cohen: The next morning at 7.30 five council officers arrive with notices of eviction.

Hugh: Wakey wakey, guys, it’s the council.

Hagar Cohen: The council has been issuing notices for a few days in a row, because the tarps, known here as the taco tents, are in breach of the local bylaws.

Council officer: OK, basically I’m an authorised officer with the City of Melbourne and I’ll produce my identification card to this effect. I am of the opinion that you are in breach of Clause 4.6 of the Activities Local Law...

Sahun: I also believe you’re in breach of my constitutional rights, so I’m not sure which one trumps that, but I’d say I win right now. I thought the constitution trumped everything and it was there for a reason, but call me a thinker.

Council officer: To comply with this direction, you should remove the thing in a public place, namely the tarpaulin, approximately 3 m by 10 m. There you go, sir.

Council officer: Thank you, Cheers.

Carl: Excuse me, can I have your name?

Council officer: Officer 532.

Carl: Officer 532. Do you have a name?

Sarah: Stick it to him!

Sean: You’ve been served, brother! Thank you very much. Thank you for playing.

Carl: I served them notice. I’ve been telling the council workers, well the last times that have come here, they are in breach of a section 28 of the Crimes Act 1914, which is interference with political liberty.

Hagar Cohen: As the councillors depart, the protesters know that it’s only a matter of time before police arrive. So they’re holding a general assembly to decide what to do next.

Sean: (Addressing protesters) Our next move in this epic struggle between good and extremely mediocre...

Hagar Cohen: They’re debating whether to defend the tarps and risk being arrested, or pack up and comply with the orders.

Jef Reinten: (Addressing protesters) I think if we are going to run with the strategy of just nicking off once they approach with the thing, we need to occasionally go through with it. We need to keep them vigilant, you know, so maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually, we’re going to have to defend something. And just even if it’s petty, we’ve just got to keep them in the state of guessing.

Hagar Cohen: They also decide to confront the mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle, who’s been particularly hostile. He’s on the record calling the occupiers a self-righteous, narcissistic, self-indulgent rabble. But he’s refused to talk to them.

(Protesters chanting, ‘We have come to speak to Robert Doyle... Because he refuses to speak to us’)

So instead, the occupiers decide to hijack a city council meeting.

(Protesters chanting, ‘We are occupy Melbourne... We are part of the global movement... Our movement is non-violent...’)

The council in return issued a blanket ban on occupying anywhere in the city and the group has now relocated to Flagstaff Gardens, a bit further away from public view. But that hasn’t solved the problem and confrontations there continue.

Man: This is pretty shameful, guys. Come on, what do you think you’re doing?

Woman: Yeah, let’s see this play out in court!

Hagar Cohen: In an extraordinary event, police officers who were acting on orders to remove all tents from the garden, stripped an occupier who was wearing a tent over her body.

Sarah: Don’t take my clothes off!

Hagar Cohen: Sarah was left crying in her underwear in the middle of the park.

Woman: Next time Lady Gaga comes to town are they going to rip off her meat dress?

Hagar Cohen: Footage of this intervention went viral and Sarah has since lodged a complaint of sexual assault against the police officers. She was wearing the tent to test how far police would go in applying the local laws, but it was also her way of protesting against the bans on tents. The activists also argue it should be legal for them to occupy public space and they want to test this in court.

Ron Merkel, QC, is acting on their behalf. He’s being assisted by Megan Fitzgerald from the Fitzroy Legal Centre. She says there are constitutional rights at stake that should be prioritised over the local bylaws.

Megan Fitzgerald: The questions before the court are whether those laws are being used in a way that disproportionately impacts on the freedom of implied political speech, which is protected under the Australian constitution. I should say we actually have very few constitutional protections in Australia and this is one of them. I think one of the things that’s very interesting about this movement is globally as well as in Melbourne it’s become somewhat of a battleground for that freedom itself.

Hagar Cohen: The other issue being contested concerns police and how officers acted to quell the protests. The Melbourne group began as a city occupation, where hundreds of people camped. A week later, police moved in to evict. On October 21, Occupy started a rally—and what happened in that rally is subject to debate.

Police claim that some of the protesters were violent, so force was necessary. Protesters say police were too aggressive and they have a digital record of what happened, which will be used as evidence. Inspector Bernie Jackson was there on the day. He says that police acted appropriately:

Bernie Jackson: What I saw there was police detaining people in the height of virtually riotous behaviour in the middle of the CBD Melbourne, where the people actually really took over intersections, severely disrupting the Melbourne community. So it was in total contravention of society’s norms; it goes against free speech, because it went beyond that.

Hagar Cohen: He says video evidence doesn’t tell the full story.

Bernie Jackson: You see all this around the world. When police grab people and people don’t want to be moved away, they’ll often offer resistance. And when you just see footage of that, it looks, ‘Well, what are they doing wrong, because the police have just grabbed them.’ But what you don’t see is everything leading up to that and what you don’t hear sometimes is the language, et cetera, used.

Hagar Cohen: You refute allegations by some people that they were punched on the face by police officers?

Bernie Jackson: If any review down the track indicates that a member was excessive in their force, well then obviously as an organisation we accept the umpire’s ruling. I personally didn’t see any actions that you described; however, I’d also like to add, any member of the community is allowed to defend themselves if they’re in a situation where they’re getting attacked as well. Now, if a member has stuck someone like someone’s alleged, there may well be a justifiable reason to it. Now, it’s not for you or I or anyone else to say until that’s tested in a court of law.

Hagar Cohen: From what I understand, there have been around about 100 arrests so far from this group of Occupy Melbourne, yet not very many of them were actually charged. They believe that it is a tactic used to scare them, to intimidate them.

Bernie Jackson: Oh, no, no. There’s two separate incidents you’ve got to look at. The first is the City Square scenario. There was more removing people in relation to a breach of the peace; there was no actual, like, arrest. You can’t arrest someone for breach of the peace, there’s no offense for that. But you certainly can detain and move them on in relation to a breach of the peace. And it was more down those lines for the majority of the people on that 21 October.

Now, then if we look at the Treasury Gardens, there are different activity laws there. We can’t enforce the laws. You have to be an authorised officer under the Local Activities Act for the City of Melbourne and for these matters we’re not, so the council officers will do the enforcement of the law. We’re there just to ensure that no other breach of any law takes place. Specifically there are two offences that we look at, which is either hinder or obstruct one of the council workers. And then if that occurs we can arrest under Section 458 of the Crimes Act, which we’ve done on a couple of occasions now.

Hagar Cohen: Bernie Jackson says the wider Melbourne community has been disrupted by the occupiers and many residents have come to him to complain. Gideon Rozner is a resident of the Melbourne CBD and a political activist, currently the president of the Young Liberals in Victoria.

Gideon Rozner: How does it affect me? I have a personal interest in it, being somebody who not only works in the city of Melbourne but actually lives in Melbourne CBD as well. So really what was a huge public health hazard and a huge eyesore was happening in my own backyard. People like myself, actually living in the city isn’t cheap, you pay quite a bit of money to live in the city. Occupy Melbourne protesters to think that they have the right to erect a shanty town to make a political point is a little bit rich and really not fair on the rest of us.

Hagar Cohen: Gideon Rozner says that while he understands the anger directed at Wall Street, in Australia Occupy is on the fringe.

Gideon Rozner: Personally, I don’t think they’re anything close to the 99 per cent, the 99 per cent of the people who come to work in the city every day to work in office jobs, the 99 per cent of people trying to run a cafe and a small business.

Hagar Cohen: So who do you think in Australia, or I suppose in Melbourne, are the occupiers?

Gideon Rozner: Oh, flicking through the photos of the protest in the newspaper, I actually recognised about four or five people from university. They’re the same people I used to go to meetings in the student union with. I think that it’s apparent that it was hijacked by the same professional protesters with the same pet causes.

Hagar Cohen: What do you mean ‘hijacked’?

Gideon Rozner: It’s the modus operandi of a lot of these socialists on campus to use seemingly popular causes to draw a lot of reasonably normal young people to the fringe. For example, when I was on campus, the lefties organised petitions in support of gay marriage, and open immigration, and things like that, which would appeal to a lot of university students. And once they had those names and signatures and email addresses on their mailing lists, the campaigning would start to draw these people to rallies, to boycott divestment and sanctions rallies concerning Israel.

I think the hard left and the Socialist Alternative and other groups are very good at infiltrating these sort of movements and steering them and directing them to a different direction. I think it will be an enormous boost in recruitment to them if past practice is anything to go by.

Hagar Cohen: You might expect Gideon Rozner to be hostile, given his political persuasions, but attempts by interest groups to infiltrate have been a problem, according to occupier Mike Stuchbery. Many would recognise him from his high profile on Twitter. He’s a school teacher and a self-declared swinging voter. For him, supporting Occupy wasn’t an obvious choice.

Mike Stuchbery: Well, I first came across it in the week before the day of the occupation. And I saw the posters and I was thinking, and they said ‘Greed is Over’. And I thought, ‘Ha! Good luck.’

Hagar Cohen: But his curiosity got the better of him. He went to check out the camp a few times after work and decided to get involved. Mike Stuchbery says the old vanguard activists saw the new people at Occupy as fresh blood they can recruit, except there was resistance.

Mike Stuchbery: There’s always been some rather significant tensions between the two groups—I said two groups, I mean, that’s rather telling—people like me who have no obvious political affiliation—we’d call us drifting voters if we were talking about an election—and then you’ve got the organised political coalitions who are essentially just the Socialist Alliance and the Socialist Alternatives. And there’s been tension since day one with them over some of their actions.

Hagar Cohen: Can you give me an example?

Mike Stuchbery: In the beginning it was signage, huge Socialist Alternative banners across the Occupy Melbourne site and, you know, many people thought that that was... ‘Come on,’ you know? That was really turning people off. We looked like a bunch of revolutionaries.

The first week of the protest there was a lot of BDS signs and particularly their target was Max Brenner. And they went and blockaded the local Max Brenner chocolate store and waved their signs around.

Hagar Cohen: Under the banner of Occupy?

Mike Stuchbery: Well, yeah. Under the banner of Occupy. And I think of all the things that have annoyed people at various stages throughout the protest, that was something that really ticked a lot of people off; that was one thing that people really wanted to shut down pretty quickly, that perception that it was anti-Israel.

Hagar Cohen: What happened to these people?

Mike Stuchbery: It was very interesting. One day all the BDS signs were up on the site, the next day they were packed up in the socialists’ tents.

Hagar Cohen: Mike Stuchbery. In Sydney, too, there’s resentment against organised political groups and their role in general assemblies. Mark Goudkamp is an occupier and an activist with the socialist group called Solidarity and he’s been copping a lot of flack. But on the other hand, he says unaffiliated individuals resist important change and it means many of the motions don’t pass consensus.

Mark Goudkamp: There may be allegations against some socialist organisations of trying to put forward a certain agenda, but then on the other hand there are others who are... there are individuals who are unaffiliated who have used the consensus decision-making process to block overwhelmingly popular proposals.

There’s been attempts to have a modified consensus model, where yes you strive for consensus but if it can’t be reached then possibly a 75 per cent model or something like that. There have been attempts to propose that, but ironically that will only get up if it’s not blocked. So we have to deal with the current decision-making model until we can find 100 per cent agreement that we move to a 75 per cent model.

Hagar Cohen: It’s been expressed to me that members of certain political groups are using Occupy as recruiting ground for new activists.

Mark Goudkamp: I think every group has a desire to grow. I don’t see a problem with people trying to find new members for their organisation, but be sensitive about how they do it; as long as it’s within the broad collaboration of Occupy and there isn’t an orientation of trying to find Occupy activists and extract them from the movement into a more narrow political space.

Hagar Cohen: Just recently, Canadian professor of political science, Dr Jay Smith, dropped by the Occupy Sydney camp to observe the discussions. He spent only a short time with the group, but says that from what he’s seen so far, Occupy Sydney is quite different to Occupy in his country.

Jay Smith: I thought the analysis and discussion here was a bit too singular in terms of... It was good in terms of the young people; I was impressed by their appropriation of what I’d say is a largely critical Marxist perspective, but that isn’t globally where most of the movement is at. The feminists aren’t interested in that. The people in terms of the environmental and climate change movement aren’t really that interested in it. You have something to contribute, OK? But you’re just one place at the table.

Hagar Cohen: Marxist perspective?

Jay Smith: Marxists. That’s what I would say. They’d probably say it’s unfair, but in terms of the movement itself, globally, this is pretty old hat. And it’s not really accepted as being valid.

Hagar Cohen: Dr Jay Smith has been researching the movement in Canada and says there the reaction to Occupy has been a mixed bag.

Jay Smith: Within Canada there’s some differences. I come from Edmonton, Alberta. It produces oil, the economy’s doing relatively well, so people aren’t hurting, so to speak, most people can get jobs. There’s less support. In Vancouver, they’ve had a very good turnout but there’s been some problems within the camps and now the police are moving in to move them out. In Montreal, the mayor, Gérald Tremblay, endorsed the Occupy movement, said we had to stand with them as social solidarity, and the park in which they’re camping was named The People’s Square.

So I think that support is correlated with the degree of economic hard times, insecurity, and risk. Where’s there’s greater exposure, there’s a stronger reaction.

Hagar Cohen: Given that Australia’s economy isn’t as bad as in many other countries, he says it’s less likely Occupy here will gain more traction. But in Spain, where the economic situation is dire, the protests have been huge. They started earlier, on May 15, by a group of 30 who called themselves the ‘Indignados’. Miguel Yarza was one of them.

Miguel Yarza: The first time we organised the demonstration, none of us had done something like that before. And we didn’t know if there was many people coming or just a few ones. Just on 15 May first, that was the first moment when we realised what was going on. So many people—not only young people; families; old people too; people losing their jobs, every kind of person here in Spain took part in this demonstration.

Hagar Cohen: Of course conditions were ripe in Spain for people to go out onto the streets. Unemployment levels are over 20 per cent. That’s about 5,000,000 people without a job, many of whom have also lost their home.

(Video soundtrack)

This video shows a group of around 30 protesters who in flash mob style stormed into a bank, dancing flamenco. The lyrics are telling the story of the 99 per cent. Their message is obviously to reform the system that created the vast inequalities in Spain. But just like Occupy in Australia, the Indignados, too, claim that their most important demand is to move to a direct democracy.

Miguel Yarza: We have two points of view to change things. First of all in the short term: people losing their houses, people with no job, and for them it’s hard to survive; we try to work with them. The medium term: trying to make the government change the laws so the short term is not necessary. But the most important thing is the long term politics that we have now. It’s to make people understand that it’s them who have the power to change things, that democracy can be quite different than what’s been done before, and they have the right to claim for what they think should be right.

Hagar Cohen: So you’ve got a very specific list of demands. You know exactly what you want to happen and what change you want. Have you—have the Indignados—transformed into a political party?

Miguel Yarza: We didn’t and we cannot. We just are people from the street. We have not the knowledge, we are not prepared to rule Spain. What we want to do is people should understand they have the power to change this.

Hagar Cohen: Background Briefing’s coordinating producer is Linda McGinness. Research, Anna Whitfeld. Technical operator this week is Leila Shunnar. Our executive producer is Chris Bullock. I’m Hagar Cohen and this is Background Briefing on ABC Radio National.