G20 Venue
Police, protesters clash near G20 venue
Police armed with batons and shields have clashed with anti-globalisation protesters trying to disrupt the G20 summit that has started in Melbourne amid intense security.
Mounted police forced back waves of protesters trying to pull apart barricades surrounding the venue of the talks, attended by finance ministers and central bankers from 19 countries and the European Union.
Treasurer Peter Costello, who is chairing the talks, says the protesters are trying to trash Australia's reputation.
Mr Costello described the attempts by groups to break into the meeting as violent.
"There are hard-core militant and violent groups who have organised for violence, trained for violence and engaged in violence against property and police," he said.
"They are trying to trash the reputation of Melbourne and Australia.
"But Australia is a warm and giving country."
However, Mr Costello said the gathering of some 1,000 demonstrators was far less than had been expected.
"There have been very violent attempts by some groups to try to break into the meeting and disrupt it," he added.
About 2,700 people from an alliance of left-wing groups, anti-war activists, environmentalists and religious organisations took part in the protest after marching from the State Library to the conference venue at the plush Grand Hyatt hotel.
Several police were injured in running clashes outside the venue, including one officer who was taken to hospital with a suspected broken wrist, a police spokeswoman said.
A television journalist was set upon by 20 people and kicked and punched.
The protesters were met by lines of police in full riot gear behind waist-high barricades near the corner of Collins Street in a city centre braced for disorder.
A group of about 100 demonstrators dressed in white jump suits and wearing red scarves as masks marched around the hotel, testing barriers and police lines at several places.
Police chants of "Back off!" were met with a chant of "Our streets" from the crowd.
One protester seized a fire hose from a carpark near the corner of Swanston and Little Collins Streets, briefly turning it on police and the crowd.
At one stage, a group of about 100 protesters broke from the main group and began throwing garbage bins at police.
A group of nine uniformed police, suddenly overwhelmed by protesters, were forced to take shelter behind a van, which protesters then pelted with bottles and rubbish.
The besieged officers were relieved by about 60 uniformed police who mounted a baton charge on the group, scattering the protesters.
Police formed a solid line across Exhibition Street, cleared the area and mounted another charge, moving protesters ahead of them.
As they tried to pull down the barricades, police responded by striking the barricades, yelling at the protesters to back off.
Initially, the atmosphere was festive, with some people dressed as clowns, others as cheerleaders and one as a mermaid.
Margarita Windisch of the Melbourne Stop the War Coalition held handcuffs aloft as she called for the arrest of Mr Wolfowitz, a delegate at the talks.
She told protesters Mr Wolfowitz was "an architect of the Iraq war" and that he was guilty of war crimes.
"You want to arrest Paul Wolfowitz today?" she asked to shouts of approval from the crowd. "We will go to the Hyatt and ask the police to lock up this war criminal!"
Then the protesters pulled down the first of two sets of barricades before being turned back by a cordon of mounted police.
At another, a police line formed in front of a McDonald's restaurant when demonstrators stopped their march and shouted slogans outside. No damage was done.
Earlier, Aboriginal activist Robbie Thorpe addressed the crowd from the back of a truck.
"This country is an institution of racism, built on genocide," he said.
"The G20 is complicit in the genocide of aboriginal people."
Formed in 1999, the G-20 includes the Group of Seven advanced industrial countries and the European Union as well as China, Brazil, India, Russia, South Korea and other major economies.
Argentina, Australia, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey fill out the group, which altogether represents about 90 per cent of the world's gross national product, 80 per cent of the world's trade and two-thirds of its population.
(thanks to yahoo.com.au for the article)
::Grinning:: I felt like I was back in Eugene. As many Oregonians know, Eugene is well known for tree hugging, tye-dye wearing, dread locked, non-deoderant wearing, vegan, left winged environmentalists. Yes, I am making a statement that points out a specific group. However, if you DID visit Eugene, you'd know I was right.
While I was in school, I was surrounded by people who wore dreadlocks, didn't wear deoderant, and were very passionate about one issue or another. Without fail, a protest would occur on campus, and it was a great environment for one to people watch. Whether you agreed with what was being protested, it was great to have people able to express themselves the best way they knew house..thru their voice.
As I was walking around the CBD this afternoon (I worked today) there were tons of people around. I wasn't anywhere near where the protests were, but you could see that some people were taking a "break" from the protesting. Some guy walked past me, and I could get a wiff of his BO, and I thought to myself "self, are we in Eugene." ::snickers::
Good on people who are confident enough to attend protests and marches. And this whole G20 venue is an interesting situation. I just had to chuckle underneath myself holding my breath as I walked past the smelly guy, because for a split second, I felt like I was back in Eugene.
Police armed with batons and shields have clashed with anti-globalisation protesters trying to disrupt the G20 summit that has started in Melbourne amid intense security.
Mounted police forced back waves of protesters trying to pull apart barricades surrounding the venue of the talks, attended by finance ministers and central bankers from 19 countries and the European Union.
Treasurer Peter Costello, who is chairing the talks, says the protesters are trying to trash Australia's reputation.
Mr Costello described the attempts by groups to break into the meeting as violent.
"There are hard-core militant and violent groups who have organised for violence, trained for violence and engaged in violence against property and police," he said.
"They are trying to trash the reputation of Melbourne and Australia.
"But Australia is a warm and giving country."
However, Mr Costello said the gathering of some 1,000 demonstrators was far less than had been expected.
"There have been very violent attempts by some groups to try to break into the meeting and disrupt it," he added.
About 2,700 people from an alliance of left-wing groups, anti-war activists, environmentalists and religious organisations took part in the protest after marching from the State Library to the conference venue at the plush Grand Hyatt hotel.
Several police were injured in running clashes outside the venue, including one officer who was taken to hospital with a suspected broken wrist, a police spokeswoman said.
A television journalist was set upon by 20 people and kicked and punched.
The protesters were met by lines of police in full riot gear behind waist-high barricades near the corner of Collins Street in a city centre braced for disorder.
A group of about 100 demonstrators dressed in white jump suits and wearing red scarves as masks marched around the hotel, testing barriers and police lines at several places.
Police chants of "Back off!" were met with a chant of "Our streets" from the crowd.
One protester seized a fire hose from a carpark near the corner of Swanston and Little Collins Streets, briefly turning it on police and the crowd.
At one stage, a group of about 100 protesters broke from the main group and began throwing garbage bins at police.
A group of nine uniformed police, suddenly overwhelmed by protesters, were forced to take shelter behind a van, which protesters then pelted with bottles and rubbish.
The besieged officers were relieved by about 60 uniformed police who mounted a baton charge on the group, scattering the protesters.
Police formed a solid line across Exhibition Street, cleared the area and mounted another charge, moving protesters ahead of them.
As they tried to pull down the barricades, police responded by striking the barricades, yelling at the protesters to back off.
Initially, the atmosphere was festive, with some people dressed as clowns, others as cheerleaders and one as a mermaid.
Margarita Windisch of the Melbourne Stop the War Coalition held handcuffs aloft as she called for the arrest of Mr Wolfowitz, a delegate at the talks.
She told protesters Mr Wolfowitz was "an architect of the Iraq war" and that he was guilty of war crimes.
"You want to arrest Paul Wolfowitz today?" she asked to shouts of approval from the crowd. "We will go to the Hyatt and ask the police to lock up this war criminal!"
Then the protesters pulled down the first of two sets of barricades before being turned back by a cordon of mounted police.
At another, a police line formed in front of a McDonald's restaurant when demonstrators stopped their march and shouted slogans outside. No damage was done.
Earlier, Aboriginal activist Robbie Thorpe addressed the crowd from the back of a truck.
"This country is an institution of racism, built on genocide," he said.
"The G20 is complicit in the genocide of aboriginal people."
Formed in 1999, the G-20 includes the Group of Seven advanced industrial countries and the European Union as well as China, Brazil, India, Russia, South Korea and other major economies.
Argentina, Australia, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey fill out the group, which altogether represents about 90 per cent of the world's gross national product, 80 per cent of the world's trade and two-thirds of its population.
(thanks to yahoo.com.au for the article)
::Grinning:: I felt like I was back in Eugene. As many Oregonians know, Eugene is well known for tree hugging, tye-dye wearing, dread locked, non-deoderant wearing, vegan, left winged environmentalists. Yes, I am making a statement that points out a specific group. However, if you DID visit Eugene, you'd know I was right.
While I was in school, I was surrounded by people who wore dreadlocks, didn't wear deoderant, and were very passionate about one issue or another. Without fail, a protest would occur on campus, and it was a great environment for one to people watch. Whether you agreed with what was being protested, it was great to have people able to express themselves the best way they knew house..thru their voice.
As I was walking around the CBD this afternoon (I worked today) there were tons of people around. I wasn't anywhere near where the protests were, but you could see that some people were taking a "break" from the protesting. Some guy walked past me, and I could get a wiff of his BO, and I thought to myself "self, are we in Eugene." ::snickers::
Good on people who are confident enough to attend protests and marches. And this whole G20 venue is an interesting situation. I just had to chuckle underneath myself holding my breath as I walked past the smelly guy, because for a split second, I felt like I was back in Eugene.
posted by Gaylicious© at Saturday, November 18, 2006
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