Occupy Questions Remain Unanswered

City of Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle has been subject to renewed criticism over decisions made during the Occupy Melbourne protests last year.

Cr Doyle established a Facebook and Twitter presence in the lead up to this October’s Melbourne City Council elections. This Facebook page was quickly shut down, as was his Twitter account just days later, following a storm of public outcry and activity on the two pages.

Much of the public interest came from a campaign launched by the @OccupyMelbourne Twitter account. Their #AskDoyle campaign encouraged the public to voice their ‘concerns’ in tweets directed to the Lord Mayor.

Specifically, the campaign aimed to renew calls for an independent inquiry into the events surrounding the Occupy Melbourne protests.

Cr Doyle tweeted on August 10, “I regret that I am closing down my accounts due to impersonation and fake accounts spreading offensive and abusive material. Back ASAP.”

Cr Doyle’s Facebook page also stated that, “trolling and pro-occupy posts will not be tolerated”. 

Occupy Melbourne activist and spokesperson Carl Scrase believes Cr Doyle closed the social media accounts to avoid answering questions about an inquiry into Occupy Melbourne.

“On Facebook and Twitter the protocol is to mark comments as abusive…Facebook and Twitter don’t let abusive comments stay up. Doyle didn’t do that; instead he deleted his accounts,” said Mr Scrase.

“Most of the comments made were reasonable questions. He has given no replies. Most of the comments centre around asking for an independent inquiry, and that is a totally reasonable request.”

This controversy comes in the wake of the launch of The Greens’ Freedom of Expression policy for the Melbourne City Council elections. If elected, The Greens will seek to review local laws to allow greater freedoms for peaceful protestors.

The Greens’ Melbourne City Council Lord Mayor candidate Alison Parkes believes an inquiry is still needed into the events surrounding the removal of Occupy Melbourne protestors in October last year.

“The office of Lord Mayor represents a commitment to being the public face of Melbourne. I don’t think that this office should be deciding that some people get freedom of speech while others don’t qualify,” said Ms Parkes.

“It is quite clear why we need an inquiry [into Occupy Melbourne]. What happened to the Occupy protestors in October last year should never be allowed to happen again” she said.

Screen shots of Cr Doyle’s Facebook page indicate comments were posted by fake accounts pretending to be Cr Doyle.

Source: Cop Watchers Melbourne

Online blogs also show abusive comments were posted on the page’s wall. Melbourne writer Geoff Lemon reports that he posted on page’s wall, “Hey Robert Doyle. You’re a fucking cunt. That is all.”

Protestors have now moved their questions for Cr Doyle to the online OurSay platform.

Cr Doyle’s office did not offer a response before the deadline of this article. Cr Doyle’s Twitter account has been reactivated, however no comments have been made regarding Occupy Melbourne.

by Nagida Clark.