The Advertiser I'm not giving up 7jan00 ABORIGINAL leader Kevin Buzzacott has vowed to go back to the North Tce protest campsite � only hours after he was arrested yesterday and barred from returning. A team of about 40 police converged on the campsite � in the Prince Henry Gardens at the front of Government House � just after 6am. Six protesters at the site were ordered to cease loitering and when Mr Buzzacott, 53, and a 50-year-old Mitchell Park woman refused to leave, they were arrested and charged with loitering. They were released on police bail about 9am on the condition they not return to the North Tce site and not camp or light fires anywhere in the city. But minutes after his release from the City Watchhouse, Mr Buzzacott vowed to return to the campsite. "I have to � even if they throw the book at me I have to fight," he said. "This is my law. I don't recognise their law. "We will go back there. When, I don't know." During yesterday's dawn raid, Adelaide City Council workers moved in and again extinguished the "peace fire" kept alight at the camp. They also impounded signs, equipment, clothing and rubbish left behind by the protesters � and cleaned up the site. By 10am Prince Henry Gardens was fenced off and council workers began repairing damaged irrigation systems, garden beds and the lawn. SA Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Gary Burns, of the Southern Operations Service, said police decided on Wednesday they would "move on" the protesters. The decision came after meetings involving Adelaide City Council and Acting Premier Rob Kerin. Mr Burns said: "The primary reason for taking the action were the offences being committed there. "The fire was still going � that was an offence � and we have had a number of arrests and reports. "For instance, a police motorcycle was pushed over and a person arrested. "There has been urinating and defecating in the area, offensive language and assaults committed by protesters against other protesters." Mr Burns said police had acted under section 18 of the Summary Offences Act to formally order the protesters to stop loitering. The area would be "policed in a consistent fashion" to ensure problems did not recur, he said. The campsite was set up in the Prince Henry Gardens on December 16 as a protest against mining at WMC's Olympic Dam, in the state's Far North. Over the next 22 days, Adelaide City Council officers, accompanied by police, repeatedly visited the site to extinguish the "peace fire" � the smoke from which drew complaints from city traders. After yesterday's action, four protesters � including Mr Buzzacott � visited the Adelaide City Council offices with their lawyer and requested a meeting with a senior staff member. They were told no one was available to see them. The group then went to Mr Kerin's office in Grenfell St, where Mr Kerin agreed to meet them. The protesters asked Mr Kerin to: ALLOW Mr Buzzacott to return to North Tce. STOP mining at Olympic Dam. ARRANGE a meeting between the protesters and senior WMC officials. Mr Kerin agreed only to attempt to organise a meeting with WMC officials. ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
