- Jul 12, 2018
- 9,817
It was 9:30P.M. in Melbourne, Victoria. An emergency meeting of the Australian Council of Trade (ACT) was taking place. Representatives of unions from all around the continent had descended to Melbourne to discuss one thing: the paralyzing taxes the government had on its people. At the present moment, it was nearly impossible for a normal middle-class family to save money, and virtually all lower-class families were burning through what little of their savings that they had left just to pay their taxes. The homeless rate in Australia had increased by 10% since these higher taxes were implemented. Even the upper-class were starting to move some of their assets off-shore or turning some of their liquid cash into assets so they would appear less wealthy to the government. Media outlets around the country had been venting their frustration about the incredibly high taxes, but now things were coming to a boiling point. An OPED piece in one of Australia's major newspapers stated that the government was spending most of this income on national defense and that the rest was being probably just sitting in the Australian treasury. The opinion piece went on to say that "the government had no interest in investing tax dollars back into Australia." Buy July 4, the people were livid.
It only took 45 minutes for the Australian Council of Trade to agree that they needed to call a nation-wide strike. Dozens of other labor and trade unions from around the country came together in a somewhat rare show of unity and solidarity. The government and the public at-large wouldn't know until the following morning on Thursday, July 5 - but one of the largest strikes and acts of civil disobedience in western history was about to take place. The ACT made it clear to its union members that they would continue to pay them throughout the duration of the strike, and that they were highly encouraged to peacefully assemble in very public places. Union workers woke up to early morning calls from their local chapters telling them not to go to work and what their instructions were. Unions outside of the ACT quickly joined forces and declared strikes as well. Thousands of union-paid protestors took to the streets of Australia from Perth to Brisbane. While they were mostly peaceful, they were obnoxiously blocking major intersections in major cities and towns across the continent. As commuters attempted to begin their daily commute to work, they were met with traffic deadlock. Many of those who were not protesting found themselves in a situation where they couldn't make it to their job even if they wanted to. By 8:00AM, radio talk-show hosts and opinion-oriented media personalities were encouraging people to go out and protest the excessively high taxes which had gone on for too long.
By 10:00AM, the government would have a rough assessment of the following: at least 15 of Australia's largest ports were shut down; Australia's government-owned railroads were shut down (though the Great Southern Rail lines were still operating); Sydney airport is shut down by protests and lack of available personnel and even though most of the other airports are still open, word is starting to spread that there is a major shortage of air-traffic controllers; finally, it appears that truck-drivers are entering the protests as well by refusing to deliver goods. In short, the Australian economy was quickly grinding to a halt. As of now, the government was only sure that they had total control of two things: electrical production and the armed forces.
Since it was the information age, pictures and video of people protesting spread around the country like wildfire. However, more and more angry words about the government did as well. It was clear that people were exceptionally pissed off about the taxes, and many felt that they simply had nothing else to loose. The riots began with mostly non-union protestors who felt safe since so many people were in the streets. Federal, state, and local government buildings were all target, along with banks and major corporate institutions in city-centers. Calls began jamming emergency lines as riots started to erupt in major cities around the country. The vast majority of the protestors were peaceful, but there were thousands of people who were rioting. Notably in the capitol of Canberra, an increasingly growing crowd of rioters were amassing around capitol hill. They were destroying vehicles and catching some on fire, throwing rocks into windows, and someone even began throwing Molotav cocktails. While it wasn't in danger yet, it was quite clear that some of the growing crowd wanted to bring harm to the Parliament House, while others just wanted to cause general chaos.
By 11:00A.M. parts of virtually all major Australian cities were in a state of civil unrest. Some looting, vandalism, and destruction-of-property was occurring among the angry rioters.
Some time that morning, the Australian Council of Trade sent a message directly to the Prime Minister's Office. In short, they said that the mass strikes across the nation would continue unless the following occurred: Parliament lowered taxes so that they were, at most, $100 per person; and Parliament would guarantee that they would spend at least $1,000,000,000 to help the common man throughout parts of Australia (i.e. national projects).
The government would be able to assess that most of Australia cargo routes throughout the country were shut down. They had maybe three days until grocery stores had empty shelves, and maybe a week until warehouses were empty as well. The country wasn't under threat of being taken over by tax-rioters, but such an enraged population would have the ability to cause significant amounts of damage. The leaders of the ACT waited eagerly to hear back from the government.
@Owen
It only took 45 minutes for the Australian Council of Trade to agree that they needed to call a nation-wide strike. Dozens of other labor and trade unions from around the country came together in a somewhat rare show of unity and solidarity. The government and the public at-large wouldn't know until the following morning on Thursday, July 5 - but one of the largest strikes and acts of civil disobedience in western history was about to take place. The ACT made it clear to its union members that they would continue to pay them throughout the duration of the strike, and that they were highly encouraged to peacefully assemble in very public places. Union workers woke up to early morning calls from their local chapters telling them not to go to work and what their instructions were. Unions outside of the ACT quickly joined forces and declared strikes as well. Thousands of union-paid protestors took to the streets of Australia from Perth to Brisbane. While they were mostly peaceful, they were obnoxiously blocking major intersections in major cities and towns across the continent. As commuters attempted to begin their daily commute to work, they were met with traffic deadlock. Many of those who were not protesting found themselves in a situation where they couldn't make it to their job even if they wanted to. By 8:00AM, radio talk-show hosts and opinion-oriented media personalities were encouraging people to go out and protest the excessively high taxes which had gone on for too long.
By 10:00AM, the government would have a rough assessment of the following: at least 15 of Australia's largest ports were shut down; Australia's government-owned railroads were shut down (though the Great Southern Rail lines were still operating); Sydney airport is shut down by protests and lack of available personnel and even though most of the other airports are still open, word is starting to spread that there is a major shortage of air-traffic controllers; finally, it appears that truck-drivers are entering the protests as well by refusing to deliver goods. In short, the Australian economy was quickly grinding to a halt. As of now, the government was only sure that they had total control of two things: electrical production and the armed forces.
Since it was the information age, pictures and video of people protesting spread around the country like wildfire. However, more and more angry words about the government did as well. It was clear that people were exceptionally pissed off about the taxes, and many felt that they simply had nothing else to loose. The riots began with mostly non-union protestors who felt safe since so many people were in the streets. Federal, state, and local government buildings were all target, along with banks and major corporate institutions in city-centers. Calls began jamming emergency lines as riots started to erupt in major cities around the country. The vast majority of the protestors were peaceful, but there were thousands of people who were rioting. Notably in the capitol of Canberra, an increasingly growing crowd of rioters were amassing around capitol hill. They were destroying vehicles and catching some on fire, throwing rocks into windows, and someone even began throwing Molotav cocktails. While it wasn't in danger yet, it was quite clear that some of the growing crowd wanted to bring harm to the Parliament House, while others just wanted to cause general chaos.
By 11:00A.M. parts of virtually all major Australian cities were in a state of civil unrest. Some looting, vandalism, and destruction-of-property was occurring among the angry rioters.
Some time that morning, the Australian Council of Trade sent a message directly to the Prime Minister's Office. In short, they said that the mass strikes across the nation would continue unless the following occurred: Parliament lowered taxes so that they were, at most, $100 per person; and Parliament would guarantee that they would spend at least $1,000,000,000 to help the common man throughout parts of Australia (i.e. national projects).
The government would be able to assess that most of Australia cargo routes throughout the country were shut down. They had maybe three days until grocery stores had empty shelves, and maybe a week until warehouses were empty as well. The country wasn't under threat of being taken over by tax-rioters, but such an enraged population would have the ability to cause significant amounts of damage. The leaders of the ACT waited eagerly to hear back from the government.
@Owen
