Protest group to disrupt IOC visit
Date: 07/02/2000
By JANINE ISRAEL and CHRISTINA HO
A new lobby group plans to disrupt next week's Sydney visit by the
International Olympic Committee as a precursor to large-scale
demonstrations during the Olympic Games.
Inspired by recent World Trade Organisation protests in Seattle, the
protesters will use visiting media during the Olympics to highlight the
social impact of the Olympics, and also support indigenous protests. The
Olympic Impacts Coalition, representing more than 10 groups, including the
NSW Council of Social Service (NCOSS), the National Union of Students, the
Greens, and Bondi Olympic Watch, will hold a vigil outside the IOC's hotel
and a "welcoming party" at Sydney Airport will lie in sleeping bags to
demonstrate the plight of the homeless.
The coalition is concerned over rising rents, homelessness,
over-development, misuse of public funds, and questionable SOCOG dealings.
Mr Bob Symington, co-ordinator of Green Games Watch 2000, and a coalition
member, said there was public anger over the ticketing process and Olympic
developments such as the Bondi Beach volleyball stadium. Protests reflected
dissatisfaction with "the elitism and secrecy" surrounding the Games". The
coalition was also requesting a meeting with members of the IOC executive,
demanding they adopt a charter of civil, social and environmental
principles for host cities, said NCOSS director Mr Gary Moore.
During the Olympic Games, the National Union of Students was planning an
"alternative Olympics" with medals awarded to Games organisers, sponsors,
developers and landlords for "ignoring the impact of the Games on those who
are disadvantaged in Sydney", said union president, Ms Dom Rowe. "One of
the main issues we're focusing on is homelessness. With funding being
drained for housing, we have students being turfed onto the streets," she said.
Rentwatchers convenor Ms Beth Jewell said: "In the two months before
Christmas in the South Sydney area, 250 evictions were served for
renovations of boarding houses and low-cost accommodation.".. . A
spokeswoman for bicycle group Critical Mass, Ms Gabrielle Kuiper, said
hundreds of cyclists planned to ride amid the predicted traffic chaos to
illustrate that Sydney's transport planning was inadequate.
Inspector David Darcy, of City Central police, welcomed protests during the
Games, saying they were part of Sydney's rich democratic tradition. "I'm
aware there are many groups who will use the Olympics as a platform to
voice their concerns about an issue," he said. "It's an opportunity to show
the world how Aussie-style demonstrations happen."
Inspector Darcy has been liaising with activists to ensure minimal arrests
and police presence. But a NSW Greens Upper House member, Ms Lee Rhiannon,
said increased police powers given to the Sydney Harbour Foreshore
Authority last November were designed to prevent activists gathering in
traditional protest areas, such as Circular Quay's First Fleet Park.
Linking anti-Olympic protests to the anti-World Trade Organisation campaign
in Seattle, UTS lecturer in social movements, Dr James Goodman, said both
movements used a big international event to unite disparate groups against
"corporate power". "Corporate promotion is dominating the Olympics," he
said. "The same corporate executives who lobby the WTO to enforce global
neo-liberalism will be sitting in executive boxes at the Olympics."
Community Aid Abroad and the Wilderness Society will target some Games
sponsors, including Nike, accused of exploiting workers in its Asian
factories, and Westpac, an investor in the controversial Jabiluka uranium mine.
Along with Greenpeace, the Wilderness Society will take advantage of
international scrutiny to highlight Australia's environmental record on
biodiversity, global warming, old growth forests and the Great Barrier
Reef. Burmese solidarity groups will also protest against visiting
officials of the Burmese Government, a regime they view as an illegitimate
military dictatorship.
The coalition and the socialist youth organisation, Resistance, said they
would support Aboriginal protests. Aboriginal activist Charles Perkins
reaffirmed plans last week for indigenous protests, calling athlete Cathy
Freeman "naive" for saying sport and politics did not mix. The Games had
been "highly political from day one", he said.
A temporary "Aboriginal embassy" in Sydney and peaceful protests would
publicise "the deplorable living conditions of indigenous people".
--
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