By Graeme Merry
and Arnaud Gallios
The Victorian Cross-Campus Education Network, which organised the large and militant "Education Day of Action" demonstration in Melbourne on March 26, and also the large (2000) student demonstration in Melbourne on April 15, wishes to express its outrage at Jorge Jorquera's article "Derailing the Education Campaign" (GLW No. 51). We have learned that Jorge was in fact in Sydney at the time of the demonstration, and many comments in his article show his ignorance of events on that day.
Jorge estimated that there were 1500 students present on March 26. Even the Age, which is notorious for belittling crowds, guessed 2000. With our collective experience of organising demonstrations, we estimated the turnout at 3000-3500.
Jorge claimed that the "ISO and other ultraleftists attempted to turn the entire focus of the demonstration against the police". If Jorge had been present, he would have known that there was no violence until three mounted cops charged into a group of demonstrators peacefully blocking the path of a police van, with four arrestees inside. It was the police who initiated the violence — not "ultraleftists".
Jorge said that "deliberate confrontations by small groups are almost always ... smashed and dispersed". Well, it wasn't a small group, there were no deliberate confrontations by students, and far from being "smashed and dispersed", all objectives of the rally were achieved: we expressed our collective rage over Chapman's proposed loans scheme and the immiseration of students, with $117 per week maximum Austudy, 40% of students not getting even that, massive overcrowding on campuses, 200,000 students missing out on tertiary places, escalating HECS and up-front fees, education cuts, etc.
By the way, during the rally, we also broke through police lines, sent shivers up worse-than-useless parliaments everywhere, neutralised violent cops including those on horses, and obtained unconditional release of four political prisoners. far from the rally ending in "total confusion" as Jorge claimed, the atmosphere at the end was euphoric, with victory speeches and celebration at the ubiquitous Lincoln Hotel.
The rally on March 26 showed the value of leadership (setting an example) and militancy (preparedness to fight back) in building a successful education campaign. We have witnessed the power of militancy on the streets, on the campuses and in the workplaces time and time again. It is only when your enemies know you are
serious and prepared to fight their attacks that they back down, as Baldwin has backed down. And it was only the militancy of the March 26 rally that gave the April 15 rally front-page billing in Melbourne.
We resent Jorge's attack on our union, NUS, and on the ISO, which is active in our Network. At a time when a united front of students, unemployed workers and workers is desperately needed in Australia, Jorge's sectarian attacks on NUS and the ISO distract attention from and weaken the battle with our real enemies: the Australian ruling class and its hand-servants. Articles such as Jorge's and recent comments by a few NUS bureaucrats helped prepare the climate for the obscene arrest of five ISO comrades on April 13 on indictable and absurd charges arising from the March 26 rally.
Our final question: if Jorge had been present at the storming of the Winter Palace in 1917, would he have denounced Lenin, Trotsky et al as "ultraleftists ... aid(ing)" the tsarist regime, as he accuses us of aiding the ALP?
In future, we suggest that GLW send observers to important demonstrations such as those on March 26 and April 15 and the forthcoming rally on May 20, rather than rely on hearsay from Sydney, a city which could only muster 250 students for its "Education Day of Action" on March 26.Don't blame us if we're organised down here, and able to successfully fight for our rights.