Here to stay, say Occupiers

The Occupy Sydney protestors’ plan to remain in Hyde Park have been put on hold after police issued a “move-on” order at 2am on Sunday morning.

The group had planned to occupy a small part of the park indefinitely, following a rally attended by about 700 people on Saturday. Protestors chose to voluntarily leave rather than risk the mass arrests and violence that accompanied the October 23 break-up of their Martin Place sit-in.

There was a large police presence surrounding the occupiers all day. At approximately 5.30pm a number of people were arrested in what protestors described as a raid.

Later, two people were dragged away by police after climbing a tree, while another man was arrested after appearing to shake and assault his fellow protestors.

Three people were later charged with minor offences.

Occupy spokesperson Wenny Theresia said Saturday’s rally was a success, with a variety of new participants involved including the Maritime Union of Australia, who led the march from Town Hall to the Reserve Bank building in Martin Place.

“What it demonstrates is that Occupy Sydney is a movement that won’t go away,” Ms Theresia said.

“There’s a need to talk about economic injustice in our society, the political alienation that people feel from our current structures, and a real sense that now is the time to do something about it.”

A diverse speaker list included MUA Sydney secretary Paul McAleer, who discussed the rights of workers and the state government’s public sector wage freeze. Other grievances included the Northern Territory intervention, treatment of refugees and the war in Afghanistan.

But the uniting element of the Occupy movement continues to be concern about income inequality and corporate greed.

Haberfield resident Emma O’Connor,26, attended the rally and said that at an extreme she would support the nationalisation of Australian banks.

“The world has created this system where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer,” she said.

“We have banks controlling stupid amounts of money and posting obscene profits, when they’re supposed to just be there to look after our money.

Canada Bay Greens Councillor Pauline Tyrell said she attended the rally partly in solidarity with the Occupy Wall St protest.

“We see it as a worldwide thing. Especially [for] those third-world countries where they keep bringing on wars like Iraq.”

The Occupy group continues to convene regular “General Assemblies” in Hyde Park to decide future action. The possibility of another overnight sit-in has not yet been determined.

“At the moment we are doing day occupations rather than risk further confrontation with police,” a spokesperson said.

By Michael Koziol