Occupy supporters march on Town Hall
Image: Occupy Sydney demonstrators outside Town Hall on Monday evening
About 50 Occupy Sydney supporters and participants gathered at Town Hall during Monday night’s City of Sydney Council meeting, for a public rally and barbecue to oppose the City’s continuing evictions of the group from Martin Place.
While demonstrators gave speeches on the steps of Town Hall, others watched on inside as Greens Councillor Irene Doutney put forward a motion calling on the City’s CEO to meet with activists over an incident last month, in which an Aboriginal grandmother was allegedly injured.
Colleen Fuller, 55, who is partially disabled and uses a wheelchair, was taken to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital after the alleged confrontation with police and City staff on July 5, when they arrived to evict Occupy Sydney from Martin Place.
Ms Doutney’s motion, which was passed unanimously by Council, said: “It is resolved that Council … request the CEO to meet with the Indigenous Social Justice Association (ISJA) to discuss concerns held by that organisation over events that occurred in Martin Place on [July 5].”
ISJA and Occupy representatives will now meet with City of Sydney CEO Monica Barone to discuss Ms Fuller’s treatment.
Ms Barone will also evaluate the cultural awareness training provided to City staff, to ensure respect for Aboriginal cultural items, after allegations that the Aboriginal flag was thrown on the ground and disrespected during Occupy Sydney evictions.
At time of writing, Occupy Sydney’s site had been raided six times since Liberal Councillor Christine Forster’s successful motion on June 24 to have police forcibly remove the group. The group has re-established itself each time within hours.
The Occupy Sydney site, which started out as a protest against corporate greed, has more recently become a 24/7 provider of fresh food for Sydney’s homeless.
Prominent Occupy Sydney participant Lance Priestley said Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and councillors who supported removing Occupy Sydney should be “ashamed” for depriving homeless people of food.
But the Lord Mayor said: “The City’s actions are only designed to remove structures inhibiting the ability to clean the area and allowing the public to be able to use the space.”
Ms Moore said Occupy’s homeless food service was not needed because there were already many inner city services providing food for the homeless.
“There are about 25 volunteer-based organisations providing free food and 16 centre-based services that distribute meals in the inner city,” she said.
Mr Priestley countered: “If there’s no need for our service, how does she explain all the people coming in to be fed?”
He added that none of the other homeless services offered food around the clock.
“She needs to show us one organisation who are providing a 24-hour service like we are,” said Mr Priestley.
“Most of them provide a service for one or two hours a day. Some of them are just a few times a week.
“We are providing reliable hot meals all night – and night is the most critical time for the homeless, especially during winter.”
The Occupy Sydney site was first established in October 2011 as part of the global Occupy movement against social and economic inequality.
Over 900 cities worldwide have hosted Occupy camps or events since the movement began.
Mr Priestley insisted that Occupy Sydney would remain at Martin Place no matter how many times they were dispersed.
