Greens blame the police as criminals hurl acid, set fires

The violent degenerates who hurled acid, stones and horse manure at police, tore down walls and set fires alight outside the Land Forces 24 conference at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Wednesday must face the full force of the law. Contrary to provocative claims by the Greens, who accused Victoria Police of using unjustified force, police responded sensibly and proportionately. They were well-prepared, well-organised and equipped with riot control gear, which they needed. Australian Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni attended the protest but was not involved in the violence. But the behaviour of the anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian groups, students and hardcore socialists who were prominent among the agitators revealed their true, ugly colours. Likewise other assorted hangers on such as the dregs of the Extinction Rebellion movement and other self-styled rabbles.

For advocates of the cause of Palestinian statehood, the protest was a strategic mistake. It came hard on the heels of the release of footage of the underground terrorist tunnel where six innocent Israeli hostages were held in brutal conditions for 330 days, with little light, water or food, before being shot at close range by Hamas. Their cruel treatment in horrific conditions underlined the importance of Israel defending its citizens. Against that backdrop, the criminal acts and confected outrage of participants in Wednesday’s protest only hardened most Australians’ loathing of the terrorists and reinforced their understanding that the Palestinian leadership, and their supporters, are not ready to negotiate a two-state solution.

As a result of the protest, September 11 has also become the Greens’ day of shame. Victorian Greens MP Gabrielle de Vietri, who claimed the Victorian government should have cancelled the “deadly weapons expo”, left parliament to attend. Her leader, Ellen Sandell, defended Ms de Vietri’s participation as representing “our constituents’’ and urged police to “de-escalate”. Victorian Police Commissioner Shane Patton rightly labelled claims by the Victorian Greens of police heavy-handedness at the protest as “rubbish”. Footage of the riot bore out his observation that many of those who attended came with the intention to incite violence, wearing full-face balaclavas and ski masks.

A week ago, Greens leader Adam Bandt said on social media: “Land Forces will be in Naarm (the traditional Aboriginal name for Melbourne) next week. Labor are allowing the largest arms expo in the southern hemisphere to spruik weapons of war for profit, when the community are desperate for a genocide to end. It should not go ahead.’’ Mr Bandt tried to walk both sides of the street on the protest as it began to unfold. While telling ABC radio that “peaceful and non-violent protest is critical in this country”, he also urged: “Have a look at what it is that people are protesting about.”

That, he said, was “the escalation of war, of starting to treat weapons manufacturing now as somehow an inherent good’’.

Mr Bandt either does not know, or does not care, that Land Forces is a significant event that matters to national security, especially in Australia’s increasingly precarious strategic circumstances. The biennial international exposition showcases land force defence capabilities that Australia and other nations need to ensure security. The gathering of more than 900 companies is a forum for engagement between defence industries and the army, defence agencies and the federal and state governments. It is also an opportunity for defence forces to brief equipment-makers about future challenges and capability needs.

Defending the nation is the first duty of government. The Greens’ hostility to such an event, and their chiding police for trying to keep order at a violent protest outside it, prove the party is nothing more than a protest movement of fringe dwellers. They have no place in mainstream politics, let alone holding the balance of power or propping up a minority Labor government.

Police arrested dozens of people at the demonstration for assault, arson, assaulting police, obstructing police and blocking roadways. At least 24 police officers, from Victoria and interstate, needed medical treatment. Protesters also targeted police horses. Aside from the costs of providing 1000 police – all of whom were needed – to deal with about 1200 protesters, the event cost Victorians dearly in terms of lost working hours and production, with peak-hour commuters and other tram travellers delayed for hours. Far from undermining Land Forces, the protests undermined the Palestinian cause and the left. Most of all, it revealed the Greens in clear perspective.