Roundup of the anti-election campaign waged by some Brisbane anarchists

In the lead up to the Queensland State Election on March 24, a group of Brisbane Anarchists launched an anti-election campaign. In the week prior to the election, anarchists began pasting up a couple of thousand anti politician and anti voting posters all throughout the city. Political party placards erected throughout Brisbane were torn down or defaced with anarchist and anti politician messages. Anti-voting and anarchist graffiti was scrawled and sprayed across walls, billboards, electricity boxes and telephone booths.

A banner reading "Vote 4 Nobody" was dropped over a railway bridge in Bowen Hills, where it hung for 3 days, before we reclaimed it at dawn of election day and hung it off a platform made of scaffolding in Highgate Hill, in preparation for Nobody to declare victory.

As the polling booths opened at 8am, a number of anarchists defaced the all party advertising on display at 3 different polling locations, as well as stealing propaganda, party buttons, and "how to Vote" pamphlets from various party tables.

After fleeing the polling booths, leaving a general mess behind them, other anarchists then began handing out anti voting leaflets and zines explaining Direct Action and Self-Organisation as a counterpoint to the pointless pathology of casting a ballot every few years for someone you know is lying to you.

At 6pm when polling booths closed and votes began to be tallied, some anarchists took over the Platform in Highgate Hill, displayed an anarchist flag, and made speeches declaring our recognition of Nobody as legitimate leader.
Afterwards we spread through the city, spraying anti LNP messages on walls when their easily foreseen "victory" was announced.

We recognise the authority of no politician or political party. We will not submit to their laws based on a colonial occupation of Stolen Land. We will continue to resist and strike against the Queensland State, now lead by Campbell Newman of the Neoliberal LNP, a party that proudly defends the interests of the bosses and capital, against workers, the environment, the marginalised and indigenous population, whom have all been abandoned by the much hated Labor Party. With its endless lies and empty promises, even many of its life long supporters didn't bother to vote Labor this year.

We can also report with some satisfaction, that on March 24 a record number of Queensland voters selected Nobody on their ballot papers. Reportedly almost 50,000 ballots were submitted either blank or defaced. This is a clear statment by a growing number of malcontents who've rejected any politician and this fraud of representative democracy.

Our own actions were guided by our wish to help build a free, non hierarchical society, based on cooperation and mutual aid, and we want to point out that such options and never available on any ballot paper.

We stand in complete solidarity with the Murri custodians of this land, their fight for land and sovereignty and the defence new Sovereign Embassy in Musgrave Park. The Embassy opened with ceremony and the lighting of a sacred fire at noon of election day, with many anarchists in attendance. In the fight against this colonial state, its property laws and its police, our struggle is one and we are committed to the defence of the embassy against any attempted police eviction.

No Hope in their Political Process!
Against Politicians and Power!
Our candidate is self-organisation and we are ungovernable!

Fire to the Parliament!

Comments

"We will not submit to their laws based on a colonial occupation of Stolen Land. We will continue to resist and strike against the Queensland State, now lead by Campbell Newman of the Neoliberal LNP,"
So if me and my mates bash you, does that mean you will not go to the Police because you will not submit to their laws?You may ask why we want to bash you,because there is a Anarchists symbol sprayed painted on my fence or do you like Aboriginal law and want a spear through your leg?
So if some walks up to you and repeatable punches you in the face it will be me or one of my mates and just to show we are not sexist we will do it to the males and females in your group.

So some kids scribbled on some signs? Hardly a thorough political commentary. There's a lot more to say about the pros and cons of voting that could have been said here. This just looks like kids being naughty and getting a boyish thrill out of it.

Explain what is meant by this?
"Anti-voting and anarchist graffiti was scrawled and sprayed across walls, billboards, electricity boxes and telephone booths"
My house is in the area. This does not look like kids being naughty and getting a boyish thrill out of it to me.You pricks have admitted to it I am looking for you.

Way to go, let's just advertise anarchy as chaos eh? oh, and btw 'organise'.

I can see the working class just jumping on that bandwagon, of course, it's just so obvious! Organise = deface stuff! Circle A just says it all dun'it?

sigh.

We KNOW there is no hope in the political process, but making out anarchism to be simply a spate of vandalism does nothing to organise the workers. Hats off to those handing out information on organising, pity their efforts are hampered by those that seem to have just justified the cry that anarchism = chaos, and middle class white kids running around with spray cans.

Way to go! This is civil disobedience at its best since voting is coerced by law in Australia. Please read my article on non voting:

Principled Nonvoting: The Beginning of Disengaging From the State
http://theinternationallibertarian.blogspot.com/2010/09/principled-nonvo...

I agree with Anonymalcontent. There is more to Anarchy than vandalism. The unfortunate connection made by those who pay attention to the rhetoric media spin... "Anarchists are just lazy, dirty, communists."

Ironic, in America the Republican (pro-war) party is content to keep the aristocracy oligarchical, yet many poor, under-educated folks vote for the very people who keep them far from access to resources.

Someone knows that the other is clueless.