NEARLY 1000 police officers were used on just one morning at the
height of last year's Grocon dispute - about one in every 13 sworn
police in Victoria.
The massive response is underlined by police data - released
under freedom of information - that reveals 3067 police shifts were
worked in just two weeks at Grocon's Myer Emporium site in central
Melbourne in August and September.
Victoria Police refuses to disclose how much the dispute cost
it - and taxpayers - as a legal case against the Construction,
Forestry, Mining and Energy Union is under way. But it defended its
response as necessary to ensure safety.
CFMEU state secretary John Setka denied the union was to
blame for the costs and said the number of police used was an ''absolute
disgrace''.
He said it was not the fault of police, it was a result of Premier
Ted Baillieu backing Grocon chief executive Daniel Grollo. ''It's just
one little rich boy helping another little rich boy.''
The data reveals that on August 31 - 10 days into the bitter
dispute - 967 police were used in an early morning push to seize control
of the site from protesters.
The 3am push encountered little opposition. Police took
control of the site and erected a fence that blocked two lanes of
Lonsdale Street. The move allowed about 30 Grocon workers to return to
work, about one-third of the usual number.
A week before the push, Mr Grollo had formally asked Chief
Commissioner Ken Lay for help. In a letter dated August 24, released
under FOI, Mr Grollo said he made the request reluctantly. ''Our
employees are keen to return to work but are presently unable to do so -
from our perspective, the timing of any attempt to return will be
determined solely with their safety in mind,'' he wrote.
Mr Grollo also said there were long-term issues for Victorian
businesses arising from the blockade. ''There are of course longer-term
multi-site issues relating to companies seeking to go about their
lawful business in the face of unlawful activity in the state of
Victoria,'' he wrote.
Mr Grollo said his request was made with ''reluctance'' and
acknowledged that it ''poses a burden on your (police) time and
resources''.
In the fallout from the dispute, the CFMEU is facing a $10.5
million damages claim from Grocon and is also being pursued by the
federal building industry watchdog for fines and damages.
Mr Setka, who was union assistant secretary at the time,
played a central role in the dispute and has been accused in court
documents of having used phrases to Grocon employees such as ''you're a
f---ing dog'', ''scab'' and ''rats''.
Mr Setka said police officers had told the union they did not
want to be there, had been pulled from country stations and were upset
at ''being used as political pawns''.
''I don't blame the Victorian police for a moment, they're sent where they're ordered to go,'' he said.
The dispute remains unresolved and Mr Setka said the union
was planning further action. ''To be honest, it's a bit like a military
operation,'' he said.
Police Association secretary Greg Davies said the costs from
the dispute would be significant but said the scale of the police
response had helped ''dampen the enthusiasms of anyone for any sort of
altercation''.
''It is a big number [of police] but then we had a reasonably
recent experience, the World Economic Forum at Crown casino, where we
were under-resourced,'' he said. ''If it's all going to turn to
porridge, it's the police that will bear the brunt of it.''
A police spokeswoman said the large response was justified.
The FOI data shows a heavy police presence on other days, with 763
police used on September 4 and nearly 700 the following day.
''A large number of police resources were used to maintain a
presence at the site during this period. We believe the number of police
deployed was sufficient and necessary to ensure the safety of the
public, our people, Grocon employees and any other person involved in
the dispute,'' the spokeswoman said.
theage.com.au 6 Feb 2013
The police are at the disposal of their employers, the government and their corporate brethren.
The purpose is to enforce the 'law' on the masses and not to prosecute the ruling hierarchy.
The police work for the 'corporatocracy', a fact the the general population is not aware of, and totally ignorant to dismiss as a 'conspiracy theory' if this is pointed out to the 'Joe Average'.
One of the primary objectives is to keep the peasants in line, and controlled.
A recent example of this is when a gathering of the masses was staged supporting a (media supported) group of young delinquent loser group of teenagers called the Janoskians, where a protester (against the Janoskians) was carted away.
See Herald Sun article:
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