Danger: aqua profunda

NON-VIOLENT DIRECT ACTION AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
By Andrew McKenna

Among other projects in the 1990s the then Kennett Government tried to close the Fitzroy Pool. There was a flurry of letters to local papers, petitions signed and concerned residents discussing the matter. Did they make a difference? Maybe.

But when a petition goes to government it gets ‘tabled’. Literally. ‘Tabled’ means it gets put on the table. It might get swept out with the breadcrumbs, or if a politician is interested they might look at it, they might act. If they’re not, they won’t.

What might have made a difference with the planned closure of the Fitzroy Pool was a massive demonstration of voter dissatisfaction. We turned out peacefully in our thousands and occupied the by-then empty shell of the Fitzroy Pool. We demonstrated that we weren’t happy with the bully boys in government who had their eyes only on the financial bottom line. That taking away a much loved community asset in the name of cost savings was not on. That selling off community owned assets for private profit was unacceptable.

It was a joyous, peaceful demonstration of the power of individuals, who felt something was wrong, massing together to show their power. One individual can do a bit. Thousands can demonstrate to government that something is profoundly wrong with their way of business. The Fitzroy Pool is still operating, still serving the people of Fitzroy, who realise what an asset it is to that community.

Local Councils struggle to provide the services we all expect and require. We live in a relatively poor region and we lack facilities for our kids, let alone a good pool for a swim in the hot weather.

But it would be a disaster to see the outdoor pools in this shire disappear. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. It’s galling to think that past councils could build them, but present councils can’t manage to maintain them. Surely there’s a bucket of State or Commonwealth money we could dip into? If the Brumby Government can throw away $50 million annually on a car race they must have deep pockets, surely?

It would be even more appalling to see a new facility built on the public purse and then have a private operator come in to run it, as some correspondents have suggested. Socialise the losses, privatise the profits. That seems to be the way of government these days.

In Prague and Paris they barricade the streets, in Boston they tip tea in the harbour, in Argentina they bang saucepans, in Fitzroy we turned out in thousands. Can we do any more here – peacefully – than write letters to the editor??

Mt Alexander Shire Council meeting dates for 2010.