Identidad cultural como oposición a otras

The catalyst for the conflict was the burning of a US flag and the efforts of the police to seek out and apprehend those responsible. From here the march resembled a pitched battle, as demonstrators went beyond symbolic actions and directly attacked the consulate, pelting rocks through the windows and unleashing smoke bombs. All of this occurred to the chants of, 'LBJ how many babies did you kill today' and

'1,2,3,4,the NLF will win the war'.43

March organisers found events beyond their control, exhorting demonstrators to leave in an orderly fashion and follow the pre arranged march route. One of the rally organisers, Max Teichman, sought negotiations with police and even went as far as appealing to the demonstrators from a police vehicle as he sought to regain control. Yet Teichman's pleas fell on unsympathetic ears. There was a growing anger as St. Kilda and its surrounds became filled with charging police horses and stone throwing militants who were determined to maintain a presence outside the consulate. For more than an hour the demonstrators clashed with police. Some concerned demonstrators approached the Reverend David Pope, the Secretary of the VCC, who acknowledged he could not regain control of events.44 _{The police showed little reluctance to restrain} themselves as they charged after demonstrators, inspired by the rallying cry of'give it back to them.45 Eventually there were 45 arrests, 14 of whom were charged with rioting. The Victorian Premier Henry Bolte declared that charges would be laid under the Riot Act.

Reactions to events that evening showed growing differences within the movement. One demonstrator recalled, "You had a crowd that was sharply divided. At least one 43 _{Hyde M., quoted in Langley,G, op cit, p 97.}

44 _{Fricke M., quoted in Langley, G., op cit, p 98.}

half was very angry with the other half who wished to wreck their peaceful demonstration by rocking [throwing rocks ]the consulate".46 _{For stalwarts of the} established peace movement such as Dorothy and Les Dalton, the events of the evening came as a shock to them and many of their colleagues. "It sent shock waves through many of the older people, that type of demonstration was somewhat

different" .47 _{The earlier schism that had been opened up by the Aid to the NLF}

Campaign now widened even further. Left response ranged from unequivocal support to outright condemnation.

The editorial in the Communist Party of Australia Marxist-Leninist (CPAML) paper Vanguard made it clear that the violence was initiated by the State, emphasising the links between the incidents in Sydney and Melbourne. The perceived police tactics in Sydney were in their opinion counterproductive, making opponents of the war more determined in their opposition. They were also critical of members of the established peace movement, attacking them as revisionists.

The Revisionists who were there were panic-stricken. One of their leaders rushed into a police cart that was equipped with amplifiers and loud speakers. He pleaded over the police

microphone with the demonstrators to cease their resistance to police violence and join in the' peaceful march to the city .. Some of the demonstrators called back :"We are not taking our instructions from the police or those who work with them." The Revisionists were isolated. Their little group was pathetic. They stood aside from the real struggle and co-operated with the police with the police. This was the reality of the situation. What a lesson this was. The role of the revisionists was fully exposed. When the chips are down they rush to the side of U.S imperialism and their job-so plain to see in action-is to steer the peoples protest

movement away from US imperialism. 48

45 _{Lots wife, 10/7/68.}

46 _{Bob Muntz, interview, 14/12/98.}

47_{Les and Dorothy Dalton, interview, 16/4/99.} 48 _{Vanguard, 11/7/68.}

Much of the simplistic and dogmatic criticism could be interpreted as a point-scoring episode related to the CP A/CP AML split. However the fact that Vanguard, as the mouthpiece of the CP AML made these criticisms and was supportive of a militant demonstration, was seen as a way to recruit new young activists. As one young CPAML member said: "July 4 crystallised differences in the movement, for example the role of the marshals to keep the crowd under control. We expected the backlash from Sam Goldbloom, but we just ignored it as they lost the plot at that point" .49 This growing confidence amongst the radicals would give them more impetus for future challenges.

The CPA writings were also critical of the police but were more circumspect in their response. The first copy of Tribune after the event focused on the high level of police violence without any undue criticism of the tactics employed by the demonstrators. The front- page headline of "Police Celebrate July 4 " focused on the police approach. Regardless of the violence the paper was supportive of the positive impact of the rally.5

°

movement were negative. "I thought it was a mistake to throw stones as it allowed the police to move us on". 51 _{Taft's concerns can be seen as reflective of a leadership that} was not just being challenged but placed in an unaccustomed situation. The imposed docility that had been apparent throughout the Cold War was now disappearing as a new group of activists saw confrontation as a way of getting results.

49 _{Kerrie Miller, interview, 2/2/99.} 50 _{Tribune 10/7/68.}

51 _{Bernie Taft, interview, 18/2/99.}

Within the ALP a number of views were presented. The party paper Fact printed a statement by the state executive supporting the demonstrators against those politicians critical of them. 52 It is not clear if this included Dr. Cairns who was clearly uneasy about the student militancy and the violence on the day. He addressed members of Monash Labour Club and suggested student protests were useless, urging students to utilise politics to achieve social change, for example, by joining an existing

parliamentary political party. According to Cairns at the time, "Nothing can be gained by boycotting politics in the belief, protests, demonstrations and civil disobedience can do the job and politics can't". 53

Fact printed a letter from the VCC Secretary, the Rev. David Pope, who considered that the demonstration had shown new levels of dynamism and militancy and was clear that the V.C.C. congratulated the demonstrators. He went on to state, "the history of the Vietnam Peace movement has been a history of police violence against protestors."54 Some members of the Young Labor Association (YLA) at the time such as Kevin Healy expressed a similar view. "The ALP, especially those involved in it (the demonstration) condemned the coppers very strongly."55 Yet there were other A.LP. members who were publicly quite critical of the events of the night.

One, A. Quinlan of Oakleigh in a letter printed in Fact claimed that the actions of the night alienated many people and rendered previous anti-Vietnam War demonstrations ineffectual. 56

52 _{Fact,. 12/7/68.}