A-Infos (en) Brisbane, Australia - reclaim the streets

[Gavin Unsworth <gavin@mindless.anarki.net>]

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The meeting place was the Brunswick St mall in Fortitude Valley at 3pm. As
there are market stalls in the mall of a Saturday, we were to look out for
a bunch of folk carrying green flags which we found easily. Looking like
we were there for RTS, a flyer with a bit of blurb about RTS and dealing
with the filth was quickly thrust into our hands. 

At this point, I departed to meet some folk in a nearby pub (the Empire).
One of the people I was meeting had provided the PA for the street party
and assured me that the march would depart at 3:30pm. At 3:15pm and
halfway through my beer, I watched the march proceed out of the mall and
up the street! This was actually quite good, because during a traffic
light change, about 200 people marched out into the street completely
blocking the traffic which had to follow at a 'snails pace'. 

With the beer quickly downed, we raced up the street after the marchers to
the street closure which was a cross street between 2 main one-way streets
in the area between the Valley and the City. This was also right next to a
park which I presume was planned as the retreat zone.

Unfortunatley, the filth (about 8 or 9) arrived about 5 minutes after the
marchers. Unpreturbed however, we effectively closed the street and people
danced away for just under an hour. By this time the police presence had
grown to about 15 and a tow truck arrived to cart away the PA which was
caged into a cover trailer. The filth had earlier unsuccessfully tried to
reach into the trailer and turn the PA off.

The trailer was eventually hauled onto the back of a tip truck with the
generator inside still chugging away and the music blaring. Some folk
tried to stop the tip truck from driving away with the music, but after a
few scuffles with police, it finally vanished.

At this point, the music continued with drums, tin whistles and clapsticks
and the street remained closed for about another 30 minutes until the
filth started ordering people off the street. Most people complied with
this and we formed a corridor on the footpath either side of the road. At
this point, several people were arrested for disobeying a police order and
swearing.

Several video cameras floating around (including television media) seemed
to stop the police being as rough and rouge as they usually are.

Some enterprising folk started using the walk button to walk back and
forth accross the street. The filth then turned the traffic lights off and
formed a line between us in the middle of the road. This was interesting
as the wallops then held the street closure for us for a further 40
minutes or so.

Two police horses showed up and at this point I was worried that they were
going to try and herd us away as they did at a previous Market Day 'riot'.
this didn't turn out to be the case though and after a bit of deliberation
( I don't think they honestly knew what to do ) they ordered us off the
foot path into the park. Those of us who were on the opposite side of the
road to the park were asked politely if we wished to join our freinds in
the park or stay put (albeit off the footpath).

At this point, the street had been closed for just over 2 hours, more than
half of which we partied in it. It was getting dark and I decide to leave
with some friends.

After I had left, the police turned the lights back on and left the
punters in the park ... most of whom dwindled away during the next hour or
so.

In all, 9 people were arrested - most of whom were strip searched
(including 2 16yo girls - the youngest) even though they had only been
arrested for minor charges. Several arrested complained of being hurt
during the arrests. Brisbane CAPV will followup with obtaining statements
and copies of arrests captured on video.

There is also the possibility of a complaint being lodged with the
Queensland Council for Civil Liberties - this will be followed up
tomorrow.


 __
                            | My hat today could be...
Gavin Unsworth              | Triple Zed 102.1MHz Brisbane www.4zzzfm.org.au
gavin@mindless.anarki.net   | Radio 4EB 1053kHz Brisbane www.4eb.org.au
www.mindless.anarki.net     | @net www.anarki.net



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