The Australian media's explainers on rubber bullets don't explain that our police have them too — and that they use them here, on us. Tom Tanuki reports.
THERE'S BEEN MUCH DISCUSSION about rubber bullets since Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot with one in LA while covering the brutal American police and military crackdown on growing anti-ICE protests.
Their police and National Guard have now attacked four Australian journalists, in an apparent targeting of media covering their brutality against peaceful protesters.
So I expect more rubber bullet talk. Which is a good thing. But there’s been something missing in the Australian coverage.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) issued a statement saying:
'All journalists should be able to do their work safely.'
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the footage as “horrific” and said he’d be “diplomatically” raising the issue with the U.S.
I’ve been trying in earnest to ascertain what the specific issue is that Australia has taken up with all of this, given my concerns about our treatment of protest rights here and abroad.
It mostly seems to come down to a blend of:
- horror at learning about all the military-grade munitions being brought to bear against a peaceful civilian protest and journalists covering it; and
- horror at the press being singled out for attack, specifically.
Regarding the munitions themselves: we’ve been treated to several local media explainers.
The ABC’s 'What are rubber bullets and are they being used in LA?' piece identifies that LA police are deploying 37mm multiple foam batons and 40mm foam baton kinetic energy projectiles.
The Sydney Morning Herald also wrote an explainer on rubber bullets, noting that they are called "less lethal" rather than "non-lethal" because they have, in fact, killed at least 53 people.
Discussing this subject matter touches on the militarisation of police forces, the criminalisation of protest and the authoritarian anti-democratic quashing of dissent. I’m interested in all of this, and so I acknowledge it’s all good, interesting coverage to see appear in the local press.
What’s confusing for me about these rubber bullet explainers, however, is that they don’t explain that our own police have them too. And that they use them here, on us.
Victorian Police (VicPol) fired upon anti-lockdown protesters rallying against COVID emergency measures in 2021. They did it again against anti-war protesters outside the Land Forces Melbourne exhibition in September last year.
VicPol was given some of these weapons after a 2016 Dan Andrews Government 'Public Safety Package'. It was said to be about deterring “gang-related crime, gun crime, terrorist threats and family violence”, but also provided new pepper spray projectile arsenal to the force. Andrews gave them LRAD sound cannons, the same foam baton projectiles the LA police have, Stinger grenades which upon detonation fire rubber pellets into a crowd, bean bag rounds and more.
Many of these "less lethal" technologies, like the rubber bullets, are documented as being capable of killing people. VicPol aren’t known for being conservative with their use of Andrews’ military tech. They have used their pepper spray on children as young as 11.
I’m not equivocating on condemning the shooting of Lauren Tomasi. It should not have happened. I only want us to acknowledge, in our heady discussions about the frightening LA police, that we have already furnished our own police with all the same equipment they’re using on civilians and the press.
As per Melbourne Activist Legal Service’s 2021 statement concerning the use of rubber bullets:
'The increased use of weaponry as a crowd control mechanism sets a dangerous precedent and risks their use normalised in protest contexts.'
It’s become normalised in the U.S., and it’s becoming normalised here too.
Regarding the second of the abovementioned concerns: the targeting of the free press in America. We can make much of the freedom of the press — and we should. Those in power, up to including our Prime Minister, can also say all they like about it — as they should. But I think his words about press freedom ring hollow if he can’t shout them from the rooftops after the murders of nearly 200 journalists covering the genocide in Gaza by the Israeli military.
Trump’s Administration is using these "less lethal" munitions against peaceful protesters and international journalists. But it didn’t sign off and purchase this tech — that was done long ago, by other governments, often centre-left ones. So they’ve had years to grow accustomed to the use of military weaponry against civilians.
What kind of future governments will make good use of the Andrews Government’s military tech supply to VicPol? And should we merely wait to see?
Tom Tanuki is an IA columnist, a writer, satirist and anti-fascist activist whose weekly videos commenting on the Australian political fringe appear on YouTube. You can follow him on Twitter/X @tom_tanuki.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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