Insensitive heavy-handedness only increases alienation

I wonder to what extent the Mayor of Melbourne and the Premiers of Victoria and NSW did their homework to fully appreciate why there has been a wave of protest around the globe, before insensitively sending in the police to close protest camps down in Sydney and Melbourne?  A useful place to start would have been with the US situation.  Central to the US protests is  the extreme inequality that has developed in the US economy over the past 30 years.

According to todays Age, Australia now has a three speed economy.  Alienation, inequality  and disillusionment with our governance institutions prevail in several of these 'economies'.  Under such circumstances protest seems a legitimate form of social action.