We lost in Melbourne

 I am trying to think how I can process my personal grief and anger at what transpired during yesterday's White Nationalist parade. And I do feel both because I am an old war horse around the traps, I have seen a number of successful anti-fascist actions in my time, and yesterday wasn't one of them. It was devastating.

However we, as the Left, and as those who stand against racism and fascism, and for multiculturalism, justice and equality, need to start with being honest with ourselves. Stating that we were vastly outnumbered is inaccurate. The numbers were roughly equal. Indeed, they were perhaps slightly in our favour. Yet the white nationalists still somehow got to goose-step themselves up Swanston and Bourke Streets to then have a rousing bunch of speeches with NSN leader Tom Sewell welcomed to the stage with open arms. That shouldn't have happened. It really, bloody, shouldn't have happened.

What did I observe then? Well, for starters, I got to the Library as the end of the crowd was joining the march down Swanston. I was late and missed all the speeches. I then sought to move through the crowd to the front like the seasoned protest navigator I am. The front was at Little Collins Street, so that's a good three city blocks (or six, depending on your counting and cartography preferences). That's roughly 5000+. At the Collins St intersection, those who had made their way from the Federation Square counter action to the Palestine rally were waiting. Some of these people had already been brutalised and were shaken, so were so thankful to see the crowd. A wall of police, including mounties and fully suited PORT officers blocked us off from the white nationalists.

Aerial photography shows that the number of nationalists was roughly similar in size to us. Certainly, they did not "vastly outnumber us", as I have seen some claim. Given the size of our crowd, and what forms "direct action" can take, what I believe should have happened next was that we held Swanston Street by locking in, sitting down, and refusing to give them passage. A blockade as a form of counteraction can be incredibly effective, particularly if you have a big group of people making this collective statement, AND the tactic is well-communicated so those in attendance know and are pulling together. If they want confrontation, we are waiting for them, and it's on our terms on our streets.

What our side did instead was this:

1. Split off to counteract some fascist breakaway groups in side streets - this caused confusion with many in the larger group unaware of what was going on;

2. Gave conflicting messages - at one point, half the megaphones were yelling to go to Parliament, while the other half were yelling to go to the Library. Attendees had NFI which way to go. With friends, I opted for towards Parliament, and literally all this achieved was us all getting trapped by more police on Russell, watching the nationalists walk up Bourke;

3. Fragment the group - as mentioned above, with bits of the anti-racism group getting broken off every which way, we ended up with smaller groups of some very vulnerable people. They will always "vastly outnumber us" if we are fragmented enough to be pockets of action, rather than a cohesive collective. In at least one instance I know of, a young woman was assaulted by NSN thugs while alone and trying to find her way to the crowd;

4. Clear the path - with these little groups breaking off, any chance of mass "you shall not pass" statements captured by aerial media photography were dashed. Because everyone was off in small pockets everywhere, Swanston Street again became fair game, and the white nationalists then marched up there, and then up Bourke, to land at parliament and cheer their Nazi speeches.

I have been to many anti-fascist rallies over the decades, but never have I felt as individually unsafe as I did yesterday. Indeed, myself, a trans woman, and two lesbians ended up dashing down two laneways, and across Bourke between clumps of "proud Aussies" from Russell Street in an attempt to find a larger, and safer, collective. As a fellow old war horse pointed out to me, at previous antifa and anti-racism actions, because the collective held the line, communicated the tactics, and didn't budge until the outnumbered Nazis were on their way home, "you'll always lose in Melbourne" became a popular victory chant. Well, the Nazis didn't lose in Melbourne yesterday. The streets were theirs, and due to our own disorganisation, miscommunication, and failure to protect the collective, it was partly our fault.

To hear this all culminated in a savage attack on Camp Sovereignty has further infuriated me. Nazis were so emboldened, they went to a sacred site, and bashed Blak women. This should NEVER have happened.

We simply cannot allow such an avoidable mess to happen on our streets again. If those sitting comfy on their couches at home, watching this unfold, really do care, I suggest you get off your arses, join the action, and make "never again" truly happen. To leftist organisers, I say know your tactics, assess your situation and numbers, make a collective decision, communicate it to all other organisers, and then stick to it. Don't lead vulnerable people off into potentially dangerous situations because you don't know what you're doing, and DO NOT CEDE GROUND. To those who were there - try not to be too disheartened. It was a fucken awful day, but we can turn this around.

Finally, I am putting my money where my big mouth is. If people want me, and reckon I can help, I am available to do so. As an Arrernte woman, I never want to see us lose in Melbourne again.

UPDATE: I have been sent video footage of the white nationalist gathering which presents a different view to the aerial I had previously seen. This footage indicates that their crowd numbers were bigger than I had seen. Regardless of size though, my points stand with regards to what unfolded on our side.