Media and Coalition go off script on pharmacy protesters storming Parliament

After the disruption to question time yesterday, with protesting pharmacists shouting “obscenities” and raising their middle digits at government MPs, as well as allegedly verbally abusing parliamentary staff, the political and media class were united in condemnation.

Here’s Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and LNP Senator James McGrath, quoted in The Australian under the headline “Activists hang shame on people’s house as protests are scaled up”:

Dutton said yesterday he was concerned that the orchestrated protests could lead to copycat demonstrations.

… Queensland LNP Senator James McGrath unleashed on the protesters on social media, calling them a ‘bunch of bong-sniffing, dole-bludging, moss-munching, glue-guzzling, Kmart Castros’.

‘These grubs should be made to pay for their damage and have the book thrown at them,’ Senator McGrath said.

Chris Pyne, Liberal party grandee, was moved to call it the most serious incident in Parliament since 1996’s riots and Dennis Shanahan in The Australian didn’t hold back, pointing out the “fascistic roots” of such behaviour:

This forced suspension of Parliament was premeditated, a risk to the public and designed to maximise attention while threatening and bullying MPs. The shouting down of democratically elected MPs by a noisy minority has a dark history and fascist roots. The technique has blossomed with social media and the coaching of professional protesters: screaming, passive-aggressive behaviour, locked arms and threats that frighten bystanders and capture publicity.

Greg Sheridan, in fine form, called the protesters “the enemies of democracy”:

The childishness and undemocratic nature of the demonstrations is evident in their refusal to try to influence policy outcomes through legal democratic means. These invasions of our Parliament are bad for democracy. They should be unreservedly condemned by all democrats.

He praised Labor leadership for being just as vociferous in their condemnation as the Coalition.

An editorial followed calling the protests “disgraceful” and condemning the Greens “for their irresponsible embrace of the protesters”.

Wait, do the Greens have a cosy relationship with the Pharmacy Guild we didn’t know about? Ah, you know what, I’ve messed this one right up. All this is from 2016, in the days that followed disruptions to Parliament at the sticky hands of refugee protesters, who glued themselves to the bannisters in the gallery, and abseiled down the side of the building.

Let’s get back on script, shall we? In the case of the pharmacists, we had members of the opposition visibly geeing up the protests from their seats, after Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley had earlier encouraged the group to make the government “uncomfortable” during question time:

“At question time many of you will be there and we look forward to it because last time you were there, you made a really strong impression,” she told the crowd outside Parliament House. “Your presence in the gallery made the government uncomfortable … so do not take a backwards step.”

In this instance, the Oz, far from dedicating some of its highest profile commentators, an editorial and a little swipe at politicians who support protesters in the “cut and paste” column over several days, as it did in 2016, ran less than 300 words about the event:

What differentiates the devastating impact on democracy inflicted by one group of protesters, who have spent the majority of the last 20 years failing to achieve any concessions on behalf of refugees, and another, who happens to be represented by one of the most powerful lobby groups in the country, we just couldn’t begin to guess.