road protests 2001
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Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 18:50:07 +0000
To: rts@gn.apc.org
From: allsorts@gn.apc.org
Subject: -ALLSORTS-news mix 10th November Mime-Version: 1.0
From: "reclaim the streets" - rtsville@hotmail.com
Sydney RTS - 'fool moon carnival - no car, no oil, no war' - December 1st, 2001
It's been almost a year since the last RTS in sydney last years action on dec 16 which was a bit of a nightmare. We were met with zero tolerance measures from the police, 'justified' on their part by our refusal to reveal the final location for the party.
The lead up to the December 1st event was met with a great deal of interest from press and police. The police issued a letter to shopkeepers and residents living in the immediate vicinity of the RTS meeting site detailing 'police measures to maintain order'. The socialists issued a counter letter. Members of the collective went out and talked to people in the neighbourhood to chill things out a bit, and some police liason was done. After last year our number one priority was to have a peacefull RTS and to reestablish it as a protest that people would actually come to rather than being freaked out by all the bullshit spindoctoring.
Despite all the hype and an increasing air of tension the actual day of rts dec 1st dawned fine. Tribots sounds crew arrived early and set up a sound system in Sydney park, playing techno sounds as the crowd built up to around 700. Moving to the edge of the Princess Highway, a loose performance of road blocking took place by people dressed as jungle animals, cyclists in pig masks, and assorted costumed crew. then dancing to the tunes of the Ohms Not Bombs calypso float, the crowd streamed out onto the road. Chaos was in progress.
PVC paramedic nurses went wild, humping each other on the stranded vehicles caught in the parade, Food Not Bombs formed a mobile snack brigade offering popcorn and vegesticks to the crowd as they marched, and the samba band and a bicycle powered sound system added to the festivities. As the procession travelled up King Street, numbers swelled to over 1,000.
2ser undergound radio covered the event though a live cross system giving updates as the parade moved. The IMC crew kept in touch via mobile, putting out a live web cast. Legal observers were on hand as the crowd moved towards the site. Mainstream camera crews were present, and at one point were surrounded by revellers declaring 'the media lies!'. The crowd whizzed through Newtown Square (the scene of a police riot last year) and down Enmore Road. As the parade approached, blocking crews at the edge of Addison Road established line of sight with the oncoming procession and set up tripods to block the street and cleared traffic from the party sight.
As the crowd rounded the corned into Addison Road the sound systems were pumping, and a cheer went up as the street party began. DJs, live bands, a performance by Atomic Oz, a kids space (where the street paintings eventually covered about half a block), and one of the highlights of the day in terms of participation, the smashing of a pinata in the form of John Howard's head went off! Copies of the first Sydney RTS zine were handed out, and a good time was had by all. Despite the choice of a low key site and an emphasis on rebuilding rather than hard core action, it feels like the Sydney RTS crew are back on track and ready to go again.
cheers
keep bustin those moves
la moon
road protests 2001
| road protests (current)
| movement links