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The siege of Macquarie Street
Ugly scenes ... a protester struggles with police outside Parliament
House. SMH photo
By Robert Wainwright Brad Norington and Linda Doherty
The Premier used a threat to his Government's survival yesterday to crush
a revolt over workers' compensation reforms that have ignited a war within
the NSW Labor Party.
On one of the most dramatic days in the history of the NSW Parliament, Mr
Carr stood defiantly on the steps of Parliament House giving a victory
sign to an angry mob of union protesters who had tried unsuccessfully to
block MPs from entering.
Mr Carr vowed to push ahead with the reform package as unions led by the
NSW Labor Council declared they would continue their fight to halt its
implementation.
Describing the blockade as an assault on democracy, Mr Carr said the
council had demonstrated "shocking immaturity" and had attacked "the way
Parliament functions in a free society".
In a day of unprecedented scenes, the Premier and his Treasurer, Mr Egan,
had to be smuggled into Parliament House using a secret side entrance,
believed to be through the State Library next door.
Senior left-wing members of the Cabinet - including the Deputy Premier, Dr
Refshauge, and the Attorney-General, Mr Debus, were visibly upset after
being persuaded to cross the picket because the survival of the Government
was at stake.
At least two MPs, Ms Deirdre Grusovin and Ms Gabrielle Harrison, were in
tears as they and other MPs were escorted by police into the House.
The Government's numbers in the Lower House were briefly devastated when
ALP left-wing MPs refused to cross a picket outside the Parliament,
leaving the Opposition and Independents with a technical majority of
38-37.
The Speaker of the House, Mr Murray, had to adjourn the House to avoid the
possibility of a successful and embarrassing no-confidence motion against
the Government.
Although the Government successfully introduced its legislation last
night, debate was adjourned and it is unlikely to pass by the end of next
week, when Parliament is due to rise.
Some unions saw the delay as at least a partial victory after the Minister
for Industrial Relations, Mr Della Bosca, had repeatedly stated the
Government intended to have its reforms passed in the current session of
Parliament.
The new head of the Labor Council, Mr John Robertson, said unions had held
the blockade with extreme reluctance after it became clear the Government
had reneged on an agreement by introducing legislation containing
provisions that would leave injured workers worse off.
A union meeting will be held at 9am today to discuss the next round of
industrial action, which will include continuing yesterday's ban on
collecting fares on public transport. The campaign is costing the
Government more than $2 million a day.
Mr Carr, infuriated at the blockade, said after a two-hour Caucus meeting:
"Democracy could not have tolerated people standing around a Parliament,
denying access to members of Parliament who they thought were going to
vote the wrong way.
"It was an attack on the way Parliament functions in a free society.
Whatever the shortcomings of Parliament, it is on the floor of this
chamber that we, as a society, resolve our differences in a peaceful way.
"To start saying that a group around Parliament determines who goes in on
the basis of how they are going to vote is giving away the conventions
that underpin our democracy."
Mr Carr defended Mr Della Bosca, insisting the Minister had been "true to
his word" in negotiations with the Labor Council and had made significant
concessions as late as last Friday.
"When you have the auditors saying you must reform it because the deficit
is $2.18 billion and growing, then you are duty-bound to reform the
scheme."
Despite the intensity of emotion during a 15-hour blockade that began in
the early hours of yesterday morning, police made no arrests.
However, up to 20 people were dragged off to paddy wagons during a scuffle
as police cleared a path in Macquarie Street for MPs to enter the House.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0106/20/pageone/pageone1.html
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They walked the walk of shame to give him strength
When Labor MPs marched straight to Parliament, police and unions were
caught off-guard, writes Linda Doherty. Then came that two-fingered
salute.
The Government in exile, holed up in the Premier's Level 41 suite at
Governor Macquarie Tower, was given two choices: walk down Macquarie
Street into an angry mob or the Premier would be forced to resign.
So they walked the walk of shame. Fully aware of the symbolism of Labor
politicians crossing a picket line, they were equally determined that Mr
Carr needed a "show of strength" to protect parliamentary democracy,
otherwise "any f---ing protest group could close down Parliament", as one
MP said.
Unions and police were caught by surprise. Police commanders, the Labor
Council and the Police Association had agreed to let in the MPs through
the back of Parliament - the Hospital Road entrance across from the
Domain.
This was deemed safer because Hospital Road, unlike Macquarie Street, had
been closed all morning and there was less chance that the protest could
spill over and draw curious onlookers.
Protesters had been practising getting arrested all morning. "When you get
tagged, go peacefully to where the paddy wagons will be," they were told
by union marshals. The plan was that arrested demonstrators would be taken
to Sydney Police Centre where they would be set free without charges.
But no-one counted on the Premier making a victory salute from Parliament
House or sending his MPs down Macquarie Street. "What Carr did could have
turned a demo into a full-on riot," the president of the Police
Association, Mr Ian Ball, said yesterday.
The politicians and their staffers - men and women alike fighting back
tears - walked four abreast from Governor Macquarie Tower in Phillip
Street, up Bent Street and down Macquarie Street flanked by police.
"I was crying about the profound sadness I had that Labor MPs were being
called scabs because they wanted to go in and do their jobs," one
backbencher said. "I felt Carr wanted a show of strength coming up
Macquarie Street."
But the Premier had to rely on his most senior ministers to persuade the
majority to cross the picket line.
The first Caucus meeting on Tuesday followed a 9.30am Left Caucus meeting
in the office of Dr Andrew Refshauge, the leader of the parliamentary
Left. Their resolution was that all Left MPs, including the six ministers,
would not cross the picket line.
When the full Caucus met about 11am, the Police Minister, Mr Whelan, took
control. The team was leaderless because Mr Carr was already winding his
way through the bowels of Parliament House with his Treasurer, Mr Egan.
And the man responsible for the legislation, the Minister for Industrial
Relations, Mr Della Bosca, had camped overnight in Parliament House.
"It felt like we were in exile. There was no-one to brief on the detail of
the amendments [to the legislation] and, in context of the looming crisis,
there was no opportunity for the Premier to provide leadership," a source
said.
There were passionate calls for the legislation to be deferred from MPs
such as Mr Gerard Martin (Bathurst), but Mr Whelan said the stakes were
too high. "He said there was no way backwards. If there was no-one in
Parliament, especially the Speaker, the Premier would be forced to
resign," an MP said.
"Without the Speaker or his deputy, the Opposition could elect an acting
Speaker and move a vote of no confidence in the Government. Having won
that vote, Chika [the Opposition Leader, Mrs Chikarovski] could have gone
to the Governor and asked to form a government. She wouldn't have had the
numbers and we would have had to go to the polls."
The tension was palpable. The Right blamed the Left for taking the high
moral ground not to breach the picket line, although the ministers later
did after getting permission from their faction. The Left fingered the
Right, especially Mr Carr and Mr Della Bosca, for the breakdown in
negotiations with the unions.
The Minister for Health, Mr Knowles, backed up Mr Whelan. He argued that
the proper place for a full debate was within Parliament where the three
crucial players were. The primacy of the Parliament was the issue, he
said. The dispute was bigger than just WorkCover; it threatened to engulf
Mr Carr and his Government.
Dr Refshauge said he would not cross the picket line, but respected the
decisions others would make. He urged support for the Government because,
without the parliamentary numbers, its survival was threatened.
At 2.10pm, he walked through the picket line with his Left colleague, the
Attorney-General, Mr Debus, to guarantee those numbers.
Meanwhile, back in Parliament House, the rumour mill was in overdrive. The
most outlandish theory was that the Premier had sneaked the Governor,
Professor Marie Bashir, through the same secret tunnel to have her on hand
if his Government was defeated on the floor of Parliament.
This was adamantly denied yesterday by Professor Bashir's secretary, Mr
Brian Davies, who said such action would have been improper. The Governor,
in any event, was at a Rotary lunch at the Tattersalls Club.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0106/21/national/national3.html
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