Regulated by a late invitation anf lack of available tickets a small group of Occupy Sydney participants never-the-less managed to gain entry to the Poverty Amid Plenty sessions of City Talks .A pair of Occupy participants delivered a non invasive Mike Check pointing out the hypocrisy of a forum offered by the City in; place of the Free participatory open forum discussions which epitomise Occupy Sydney. The Mike Check text is as follows : We from Osyd would like a moment this forum was organized to justify city of Sydney's participation in the violent eviction of osyd from martin pl last October. Yet somehow they forgot to invite an occupy participant not only this the structure of this forum is antithetical to the principles of the occupy movement. This forum is exclusive heirarchial and authoritarian. The occupy movement seeks to be inclusive, participatory and Democratic. The occupy movement is nit about reforming a bankrupt system by creating a model for a better society. It is not about bailing out the one percent at the expenve of the 99%. We would like to invite you to an inclusive participatory and Democratic version of this event outside once this event has finished. Thank you. Occupy Sydney participant Marc Aherns is the belated Occupy Sydney panellist thanks to an invitation from Greens Councillor Irene Dougherty who has consistently supported Occupy Sydney's right to protest peacefully. We thank her.
After weeks of trying to arrange an Occupy panel member for last night's City Talk, Marc Ahrens was confirmed on 19 April. His contribution is appreciated. Event tickets were open to everyone. Two occupy members were politely asked to leave the venue last night after two minutes of heckling delayed the event for everyone. They were happy to comply.
ReplyDeleteThe City respects the right to peaceful protest as long as it is lawful and does not cause disruption to the public. Any police response to the Occupy presence at Martin Place is operational and not instigated by the City.