I REALLY don’t approve of all these protests blocking Melbourne’s CBD every week.
Well, even so, I have to confess I did protest…once.
Way back in time, when I felt very strongly that there should be ‘No Uranium Mining at Kakadu!’
It turned out that Prime Minister at the time, Bob Hawke, was going to ‘some’ conference near my work.
I decided to protest…I grabbed a big poster from my office wall, and if I recall, it either had horses or cattle breeds on it.
I turned it over…grabbed a big texta and wrote KEEP OUT OF KAKADU…or something else equally intelligent.
I stuck it under my arm and rushed off.
I joined a large group of people waiting his arrival and learned a lot.
Yes, there are professional protesters and organisers.
We were told where to stand, and what to yell, and when!
It is not what I innocently expected back then.
I, a tall red head stood beside a small grey-haired lady, and we chatted…she seemed sweet, and she had her own sign too.
So, Hawke turns up…the television cameras go on, and we chant as instructed.
The little grey-haired lady nudges me.
“Dear, your sign is upside down,” she said.
Oops… I said I wasn’t good at this, well, luckily it wasn’t back to front I suppose.
Then, to my surprise, as the cameras scanned the crowd, the little grey-haired lady dived behind me.
“Oh dear,” she said.
“I’m on a good behaviour bond from the last protest I attended.”
Wow!
So really, I do not know that I achieved anything…except to note that Bob Hawke was much shorter than he appeared on television.
I went back to work…stuck my poster back on the wall…and decided that protesting was something I had no talent for.