Inner group division and calls of political hijacking sees the Occupy Brisbane movement struggling to find a home amongst the inner city high rises.
The Brisbane arm of the world wide movement had camped at an inner park for almost three weeks but was yesterday evicted as part of a city council order. The Premier, Anna Bligh, has since offered a slice of parkland on the outskirts of the CDB as a safe haven for the group. The almost one hundred strong group last night fiercely debated the offer and at one point appeared to reach a decision, but the position of the group became unclear as members revisited the topic several times during the course of the meeting.
Occupy Brisbane Coordinator, Kate Haskett, said the group must discuss the finer details of Ms Blighs offer before any decision can be made. She said now was not the time to debate the issue as the group has worked long hours over the past fortnight and many were emotionally and physically exhausted. She believed it was time for the group to step back and regain a healthy, balanced attitude.
“A lot of the people here need to rest, they need to shower, and they need to make decisions not from their emotions but from a balanced, healthy perspective when we regroup again.”
The group was forced to abandon their original Post Office Square camp following a Police eviction yesterday. They relocated to Queens Park in the southern corner of the CBD only to be evicted again this morning. Tired and dwindling in numbers, the remaining supporters are now waiting out their time in King George Square where they intend hold a 5pm meeting to decide their next move.
According to Ms Haskett, moving the camp from park to park with no direction or planning isn’t a positive outcome for the long term future of the movement. She said the group needs to leave the city, reorganise, and carefully plan its next move.
“[We need to] regroup at a specific time, date, and place that’s actually been planned properly with facilities to make sure that this movement continues.”
Despite the evictions, authorities aren’t the only threat to the unity of the group. There appears to be political factions forming and some fear extreme socialist groups are hijacking the movement. The core organisational team today released this statement via Facebook distancing themselves from the remaining inner city member’s recent actions.
“Some people left from the Occupation stayed in Queens park with the Socialist Alliance last night and held their own General Assembly (GA) after (sic) the Occupy fashion. Occupy Brisbane does not recognise that GA. And we had no part in this mornings eviction, arrests, or subsequent actions. An angry political group hostile to QPS (Qld Police Service) and at odds with public will. Does not reflect the Message of Occupy Brisbane or the 99 % And we had no part in these events.”
The resulting tension in the group caused a number of core organisation members to stand down from their roles. A statement released on Facebook this afternoon revealed that core team members felt the radical actions of some Occupy Brisbane members have irreparably damaged the movement.
“…we can clearly see an outcome that spells the death knell of this movement here in Brisbane.”
From the beginning it wasn’t a far stretch of the imagination to see the group would eventually find itself in this position. With such a diverse cross section of people and chronic lack of direction it was often difficult for the group to make clear decisions on even small issues relating on the day to day running of the camp. Nightly meetings were often bogged down with long and perpetually revisited debates, and this inability to reach consensus was obvious at Queens Park on Wednesday night as the group struggled to form a policy towards resting a Police eviction. The final decision was for those who aimed to resist an eviction, about a dozen of the 80 meeting attendees, to form a separate internal group. This seemed to be the beginning of the end for untiy in the movement.
There are rumors the group will reform on Saturday as part a world wide day of solidarity. Ms Haskett said even though there’s much turmoil from within the group, she’s still confident the movement will continue.
“The movement’s still strong in the heart and that’s all that matters,” she said.
Although, she has since forwarded her resignation from the group.
[4th October 1022 - Update: Ms Hasket said the Facebook statment released under the official Occupy Brisbane username was incorrect and she contunies to be part of the movement]
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