◆ COVID-19
The art of protesting in a pandemic COVID-19 has presented a number of challenges. As unionists and activists under these extraordinary circumstances, we have had to find new and innovative ways to work. However, when it comes to engaging in activism, perhaps the largest challenges lie in organising people face-to-face to take action in an environment where health regulations and government legislation often prevent that kind of activity occurring. Without a doubt the biggest protests we saw in 2020 in early 2021 were the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests held across the country in June 2020, along with the annual Invasion Day Rallies. It needs to be noted that despite there being a great deal of demonisation when it came to the Black Lives Matter rallies, particularly by the media and various politicians who continuously wrongfully claimed that these rallies were responsible for starting the second wave of
Celeste Liddle, NTEU Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Organiser
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ADVOCATE VOL. 28 NO. 1 ◆ MARCH 2021
COVID infections in Victoria, both BLM and Invasion Day rallies nationally were successfully held with absolutely no community transmission of COVID-19 recorded. At BLM in Melbourne, a good proportion of this was due to both the organisers ensuring that masks and hand sanitiser was available for all participants, and that they were continually reiterating social distancing requirements to the thousands of people who had attended on the day. These tactics were replicated across the country.
