Exclusive: We Spoke To One Of The Potatoes Behind Yesterday’s Border Force Protest
"We do not want to be associated with this refugee-torturing tater-hater".
On Thursday, four brave potatoes staged a dramatic protest outside the Melbourne headquarters of Border Force. The vegetables, members of the Autonomous Anarchist Spuds Against Dutton, glued themselves to the ground outside the building to draw attention to the government’s inhumane treatment of asylum seekers, and to call for the sacking of Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.
This morning, Junkee reached out to the Whistleblowers, Activists and Citizens Alliance (WACA), who helped coordinate the protest. They put us in touch with a spokespotato from Spuds Against Dutton, who confirmed that the protesters were removed by Border Force using “a liberal amount of nail polish remover”.
“We saw our starch comrades being snatched by Border Force reps,” said the spokespotato. “They were taken inside the building, and we believe they are being indefinitely detained.”
Breaking! Autonomous anarchist potatoes are super glued to Border Force HQ. They are calling for the fake spud @peterdutton to be sacked! Here’s a photo of the building security asking the potatoes to move on #SackDutton #Juatice4Refugees #RefuseToBeComplicit pic.twitter.com/kRJCtE6s84
— WACA (@akaWACA) May 31, 2018
Junkee has chosen not to share the name of the spokespotato, who expressed concern that she may be targeted by Border Force for speaking out.
“There are other spuds across the country that we know have been threatened with mashing,” she said.
Asked why they felt compelled to protest, the spokespotato said her community was tired of being associated “with a fascist fake potato like Peter Dutton”.
“Dutton is driving a potato wedge between spuds and the refugee community,” she said. “Many of our ancestors came to Australia on boats.”
“We are not racist vegetables, and we do not want to be associated with this refugee-torturing tater-hater. Boil ’em, mash ’em, stick ’em in a stew, fascist spuds will get their due!”
Our spud comrades are being indefinitely detained at Border Force HQ. Solidarity to our spud friends they are starch agitaters: fighting Dutton’s racist policy until they mash the fascist patriarchy to a nice buttery side dish #SackDutton #Justice4Refugees #MashPatriarchy #auspol https://t.co/MGonAeqopM
— WACA (@akaWACA) June 1, 2018
Junkee also spoke with a WACA spokesperson, who confirmed they were contacted by the Spuds Against Dutton following a protest WACA held at Border Force HQ last year.
“They feel their community is being discriminated against,” she said. “I guess they just reached boiling point.”
“Like other members of WACA they are refusing to be complicit in an abhorrent, inhumane, illegal refugee policy that is killing people.”
“When both sides of politics collude in the abuse of human beings, civil society must come forward and do more than sign a petition or go to a rally,” she added.
“We need to disrupt the business of Border Force and Home Affairs, and we need the good people of Queensland to ensure that Peter Dutton loses his seat in the next election.”
Her feelings were echoed by the Spuds Against Dutton spokespotato.
“Fried, roasted, boiled, any way you cook it, these policies are inhumane,” she said. “We think Dutton has spent too long in the hot oil.”
“We are calling on humans and vegetables around Australia to stand up. This man does not speak for the potato community, and from what we can see he doesn’t speak for the human community either.”
To learn more about WACA, visit their website.