Happy Australia Day?

[Sean]

See appropriate thread for response.

*Buggered if I'm going to link to it every time though*

[alice]

Wow...that's a little undignified...

And in one picture, she looks genuinely terrified...

I don't understand why her security handled it this way....Why didn't they have the cops clear the demonstrators out before they escorted her out? Or why didn't they take her out through a different exit?

Escorted? More like dragging her out by her heels ...while pushing old men down the stairs. Was she too terrified to move herself?
Don't they have fire drills in Oz government?
I agree, Jim this looks like a total cluster-panic with no evac plan.

The reports we received here in Australia all indicated that Julia Gillard actually tripped and that's when she lost her shoe. And as a result of that it appeared that the Federal Policeman threw his arm around her and grabbed her to stop her from falling to the ground after she tripped. In the circumstances he didn't have time to steady her, stand her up and let her keep walking on her own steam. That's why he had ended up looking like he was dragging her backwards.
If he hadn't grabbed her like that, she would have completed her fall to the ground, and it would have looked even more undignified. I presume that if she had hit the ground, the security bloke would have had to scoop her up in his arms to continue the whole operation of getting her out of harm's way and into the waiting vehicle. And that would have looked even worse.

Australia has not really had to have the level of security that American Presidents require. But it will of course be reviewed. Our very respected political commentator Laurie Oakes discussed the events and made a number of very good observations - copied below, with a link under the quote: If you read it, please note that the Malcolm Fraser he refers to was Australia's Prime Minister from 1975 to 1983. He became Prime Minister in extremely controversial circumstances, and was probably the most disliked of our Prime Minister, partly because of that.

LET'S not make any excuses for the morons associated with the Aboriginal tent embassy who sparked Thursday's ugly events in the national capital.

Sure, a member of the Prime Minister's media staff acted foolishly by indirectly passing on information about Tony Abbott's movements, but that in no way justifies what followed.

When the protesters interrupted a medal ceremony for courageous emergency services personnel involved in the Queensland floods and Victorian bushfires, their behaviour was vile.

"Who f---ing cares? They're not our heroes," yelled one of the first tent embassy people to arrive.

Then, spotting the Opposition Leader, she screamed: "Tony Abbott, you f---ing big-eared Dumbo c---."

This was followed by more obscenities directed at Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Things went downhill from there.

The angry mob that dashed from the tent embassy and surrounded the nearby Lobby Restaurant - shouting aggressively and pounding on the big glass windows after staff locked the doors - clearly threatened violence.

Police, especially the federal agents responsible for Gillard's personal security, were right to implement rapid extraction procedures to get our political leaders to safety.

But it has to be said the operation could have been handled better. It was anything but copybook. Clumsy is the word that comes to mind.

It is obvious the first priority in such a situation has to be the safety of the prime minister.

But those assigned to the personal protection detail are told that maintaining as much dignity as possible for the PM is also important.

That is where Gillard was let down.

She should have walked out like a prime minister, an expert said yesterday. Instead, she looked like a frightened rag doll.

After all, there were not thousands of protesters - just a hundred or so.

Canberra police should have been able to clear a path to the roadway so that the PM's security people could walk her to her car.

Forming a flying wedge around Gillard and Abbott and making them exit the restaurant at a run was unnecessary and smacked of panic.

And it pretty much guaranteed that a female prime minister wearing high-heeled shoes would trip and fall, resulting in the kind of undignified coverage we have seen in newspapers and on television.

But a bigger concern is that those responsible for the PM's security were apparently taken by surprise.

Her program is supposed to be checked thoroughly in advance for potential security problems. ASIO looks at it, as well as the Australian Federal Police.

Here we had the PM and Opposition Leader scheduled to attend a function at a location only a stone's throw from 40th anniversary celebrations at the Aboriginal tent embassy.

It was an occasion that would inevitably involve the most hard-core and embittered Aboriginal activists.

Yet nobody - not even the spooks at ASIO - spotted a potential problem.

The police presence was negligible until the restaurant was under siege and Gillard's minders sent out an SOS.

We should be careful not to over-react. Already there are calls for security around senior politicians to be stepped up.

But what happened to Gillard was mild compared to some of Malcolm Fraser's experiences.

Fraser was once trapped in a suburban town hall by howling protesters, the threat so serious that it led to a confrontation between the PM and the head of his security detail, the late inspector George Davidson.

Davidson threatened to stand down his officers if Fraser insisted on leaving by the front door. He said he would face the mob with the PM, but would not ask his men to do so.

Tamie Fraser urged her husband to listen to George, and the prime minister's party sneaked out through the underground car park.

On another occasion, Fraser and his entourage were barricaded in a Monash University basement by a horde of students baying for the PM's blood.

When Fraser phoned Victoria's top cop seeking reinforcements, the commissioner did not believe it was the PM on the line and hung up.

Fraser and those with him climbed out a locker room window to escape.

Thursday's events don't demand more security, but they suggest a need for security that's smarter.

Gillard has been embarrassed by her staffer's action and did not hesitate to accept his resignation.

It should be stressed, though, that on the day both the PM and Abbott behaved impeccably.

The Nine Network's exclusive footage of Gillard being briefed by an AFP agent on plans to get her past the protesters showed a remarkably calm PM.

And her concern that Abbott should be looked after as well - "We'd better help him through too, hadn't we?" - was an example of grace under pressure.

As the flying wedge emerged from the side door of the restaurant, Gillard could be heard asking: "Are you right, Tony?"

Abbott has copped flak for allegedly firing up the tent embassy mob with provocative comments earlier in the day. It is a bum rap.

Abbott simply spoke of progress - including Kevin Rudd's historic apology - since the tent embassy was first established, and suggested it is probably time to move on.

It takes a twisted mind to interpret the remark as a threat to tear the so-called embassy down.

(from ...http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/prime- ... 6255730970

[Lord Jim]

Thanks for posting that Alice, it was very informative. (Unlike Tim some people, my attention span enables me to read multiple paragraphs... )

That article reinforces my view on several points. First, given the proximity to this Aboriginal tent city, they should have had every reason to realize that there could be trouble, and they should have been better prepared, and had more forces on scene earlier.

Second, if there were only 100 demonstrators it should have been easily doable to either disperse them or push them well back from the exit. (There's also no explanation as to why they felt it necessary to take her through the front door)

[loCAtek]

In the US, we take our Presidential security very seriously, for the simple fact our leaders face many threats;

The number of reported threats rose from 2,400 in 1965 to 12,800 in 1969.[10] According to some reports, President George W. Bush received about 3,000 threats a year, while his successor Barack Obama received about four times that many.[11] This figure has been disputed by Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, who says that Obama receives about as many threats as the previous two Presidents.[12] Wiki

While nowhere is considered absolutely safe. Here's a small peek, (that I hope won't get me in big trouble) of how carefully the President's movements are guarded;

Many moons ago, a fellow sailor friend of mine had been stationed on an Aircraft Carrier, where he tells me he met Pres. George H.W. Bush, 42.
You would think one of the US Navy's finest ships, far out to sea, manned entirely by servicemen, would be considered perfectly protected, but no such assumptions were made by the Secret Service. The presidential limo was airlifted onto the flight deck first in order to pick him up, when his helo landed and drive him safely into the lower hangar bay where he was scheduled to make a speech.
Security was already tight, when my friend was grabbed off of maintenance duty in his dirty coveralls, and was told he had to stand guard over...




...a fire hose! Seems the Marines had decided that the hose could reach over a catwalk, and might be used to spray the President; I'm not kidding.
Well, the sailor's watch was pretty uneventful, up until it was time for Mr. Bush to leave. No one had said in what direction the President would depart ...when suddenly from around the corner of my friend's catwalk post, comes the Commander in Chief and his entourage!
I'm happy to report, Pres. Bush was a complete gentlemen to this startled, disheveled, lower-enlisted man; stopping to ask him 'How are you? What are you up to, son?'
My friend stammered in reply that he was fire hose watch to protect him.
To which, the President graciously thanked him and shook his hand.

[Gob]

Jim, if Gillard hadn't stumbled and been caught by her security staff, losing a shoe in the process, this would all have been less of an event by an order of magnitude.

[Gob]

And what a pack of gutless wonders contributed to this debacle.

The root cause was found within the Prime Minister's staff. One of her press secretaries, Tony Hodges, used race to make political mischief even though indigenous affairs had been an area of tacit bipartisanship between Julia Gillard and the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott.

On Thursday, Hodges began looking for an Aborigine to take issue with some bland remarks Abbott made during a morning interview when he was asked about the tent embassy and replied: ''Look, I can understand why the tent embassy was established all those years ago. I think a lot has changed for the better since then … I think the indigenous people of Australia can be very proud of the respect in which they are held by every Australian and … I think it probably is time to move on from that."

Hodges called Kim Sattler, the secretary of UnionsACT, and told her Abbott had said it was time for the tent embassy to move on and was attending an event just 100 metres from the demonstration.

Sattler spoke to at least two of the demonstrators at the ''embassy'', Barbara Shaw and Michael Anderson, and told them Abbott wanted the embassy gone and that he was right next door.

Within minutes, about 200 people were outside The Lobby restaurant banging on the windows and shouting abuse.

The organiser of the demonstration, Michael Anderson, ranted afterwards that Abbott ''said the Aboriginal embassy had to go, we heard it on a radio broadcast … It's just madness on the part of Tony Abbott. What he said amounts to inciting racial riots.''

Another activist, Paul Coe, a former barrister disbarred from practice for lying to a court, later brandished the shoe left behind by Gillard as she was bundled away by security. Coe said she should visit the ''embassy'' to collect the shoe as an ''act of goodwill''.

Kim Sattler crowed on her Facebook page ''a huge crowd from the embassy went to greet him [Abbott] and he had to be rushed away with a police escort!''

When all this blew up in their faces, the response was just as gutless.

Hodges was sacked - damage-control for Gillard - and delivered a mealy-mouthed apology denying he had distorted Abbott's words.

Sattler took down her crowing Facebook entry. Then she blamed Hodges, who she said told her Abbott said the tent embassy should be shut down. She also blamed the Prime Minister for saying it was Sattler, not her press secretary, who began the distortion.

Barbara Shaw, Greens candidate for the Northern Territory federal seat of Lingiari, shifted blame to Sattler, telling reporters Sattler had said she was speaking on behalf of the Prime Minister's office and that Abbott was right next door talking about closing down the tent embassy.

The most absurd response came from Anderson, who told reporters: ''Someone set us up.''

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/ ... z1ksm8yQ8u

[The Hen]

Politics should never be involved in events. It only leads to tears.

[dales]

Hen, let me be the first one here to wish you a.....................





HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

[Lord Jim]

later brandished the shoe left behind by Gillard as she was bundled away by security.

That should fetch a nice sum on eBay...

So let me make sure I've got this straight....

Some sharpie in Gillard's camp tried to create a confrontation and embarrassment for Abbot by deliberately misinforming the Aboriginal activist leadership about something that he had said...

And as a result, instead of Abbot being embarrassed, the Boss wound up getting dragged like a sack of potatoes through a police line on international television...

And in the meantime, the Abo leader, who should have done his own due diligence, is whining that he's the victim...

Have I got that right?

[Gob]

Pretty much, yep!

[The Hen]

The shoe has been returned to the PM as a gesture of good will.

Many arses are up for a jolly good kicking over this.

Not the sort of action a solid chap should have taken under the circumstances.

Thereby drifts many politically-aspiring careers.

[alice]

...

So let me make sure I've got this straight....

Some sharpie in Gillard's camp tried to create a confrontation and embarrassment for Abbot by deliberately misinforming the Aboriginal activist leadership about something that he had said...

And as a result, instead of Abbot being embarrassed, the Boss wound up getting dragged like a sack of potatoes through a police line on international television...

And in the meantime, the Abo leader, who should have done his own due diligence, is whining that he's the victim...

Have I got that right?

That's a pretty good summary actually!!