{"id":1911,"date":"2013-07-06T11:05:54","date_gmt":"2013-07-06T01:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onlyaustralia.com.au\/?p=1911"},"modified":"2013-07-06T11:15:39","modified_gmt":"2013-07-06T01:15:39","slug":"right-to-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onlyoz.com.au\/oa\/issues\/right-to-protest","title":{"rendered":"Right To Protest?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The No McDonald’s in Tecoma has raised some interesting issues relating to the Right To Protest.<\/p>\n

A number of groups are protesting against the building of a McDonald’s in Tecoma.<\/p>\n

They are made up of splinter groups and co-ordinated campaigns:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. No Maccas in the Hills Facebook Page<\/li>\n
  2. No McDonalds in the Dandenong Ranges Facebook Page<\/li>\n
  3. Say No to the Commercialisation of Healesville<\/li>\n
  4. Burger Off<\/li>\n
  5. Tecoma Village Action Group<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We all reserve the right to protest, but where does that right start and finish?<\/p>\n

    We spoke with a number of locals, and it became quickly apparent that not everyone is on the side of the protesters<\/p>\n

    Many locals expressed concern about the protesters and the message they were sending to the wider community.<\/p>\n

    One lady said, I don’t know who they are, and who are they protesting for? \u00a0I have nothing against McDonald’s, so why are thoese people protesting on my behalf? \u00a0Another local expressed the opinion, how is it that they are allowed to protest on “private property”? \u00a0This is not a state forest where the land belongs to the people, that is private land, privately owned.<\/p>\n

    Patricia Boras said she welcomed McDonald’s because it would bring jobs to the area. \u00a0Others say a lot of people are against the project and will boycott McDonald’s if it is built.<\/p>\n

    The case went before council and was rejected. \u00a0One for the protesters. \u00a0But then it went to VCAT and the planning and building permission was granted. \u00a0They have had their day in court, and didn’t like the answer. \u00a0Tell that to the people of Northcote, where they built a 8 story building on top of the shopping plaza. \u00a0They protested too, albeit on public land before marching into the plaza.<\/p>\n

    Who are these protesters? \u00a0We heard this a number of times. \u00a0Yes, one or two are well known local activists. \u00a0One person said, yep, they are activists alright, professionally employed by the Government (dole) to protest whenever something they don’t like comes there way. \u00a0But what about the others? \u00a0I’ve never seen half these people before, let alone have them protest against something that me as a local am not bothered about.<\/p>\n

    Have you heard some of the claims?<\/p>\n