Tag Archives: Occupy Melbourne

‘March in March’ – the Melbourne Rally and March, 16 March 2014

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Melbourne responded to the callout (see http://marchinmarchaustralia.org/ and the Melbourne march Facebook page) with one of the largest rallies since the 2003 protests against the war in Iraq. Figures varied widely, as usual, but we are rather inclined to the upper end of the claims, or towards 50,000. It was also one of the most varied, and in recognition of this we are posting the largest selection of images so far on this site for one event. There is also a choice of thumbnail/gallery or slideshow, the latter comprising lower resolution copies. It may be in order to post a few separately:

Part of crowd at start of rally

A very small part of the rally at the State Library

Black and red flag

The holder of this flag told us it was 45 years old – dating back to moratorium days

Placard in German - 'These crimes, your blame'

International contribution

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NOT IN OUR NAME – Rally for Refugee Rights – 2 August 2013

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At the 5000-strong rally last Saturday it was decided to hold another protest within a week, and on Friday 2 August somewhere between 1500 and 2000 marched through the streets of Melbourne from Flinders Street station to the old City Square. And this in spite of miserable weather. The rally was organised by Socialist Alternative and RAAF (Renegade Activists Action Force), and supported and endorsed by a long list of organisations and individuals (see the Facebook event page). The opening rally was addressed by musician and activist Ezekiel Ox, Liz Walsh of the Refugee Action Collective, Hazara refugee Mohammad Ali Bagiri, Lea Rumwaropen of the West Papuan community, with contributions from Abe Ape and Muma Doesa, with Newdub Citysound and Trevor Grant of the Tamil Refugee Council winding up at the end of the march. MC overall was Jacob Grech of RAAF. With a starting time of 5.30pm and still some way to go to Spring the light was not too good, and naturally deteriorated as the march progressed, so that the footage of the final stages is rather on the grainy side, but hopefully gives some idea of the mood and size of the event:

Another rally is planned for the same time next Friday, 9 August, with a major event coming up on Saturday 24 August. Details will appear on the Rac-Vic website and Facebook page.

In addition to the footage posted here, which focuses chiefly on the march, there is excellent coverage biased towards the speakers posted on YouTube on the LeftAndcorrect channel – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeacJGdk8v4

The following mainstream media report may be of interest also: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/refugee-rally-disrupts-five-tram-services-in-city/story-fni0fit3-1226690421302

Footnote to Occupy Melbourne Day 7 – Police Move In… (October 21)

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Cover of Occupy Policing report

The Occupy Melbourne Legal Support Team have released a report into the actions of police at the eviction of Occupy Melbourne from the City Square on Friday 21 October 2011: it can be downloaded at http://occupypolicing.org/uploads/Occupy_Policing_2012_updateSMALL.pdf (online readable) or http://occupypolicing.org/uploads/Occupy_Policing_2012_updatePRINT.pdf (printable). (There is also an abbreviated version on Occupy Policing.)

The Report has forwards from Councillor Cathy Oke, Melbourne City Council, and Tamar Hopkins, Convenor, National Police Accountability Network, and Principal Solicitor, Flemington and Kensington Community Legal Centre, and is endorsed by Fitzroy Legal Service Inc., and Flemington and Kensington Community Legal Centre Inc.
See also Melbourne Indymedia.