Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore made clear at a Sydney City Council meeting on November 6 that she supported the “principles” of the Occupy movement but did not support Occupy Sydney.
Greens councillor Irene Doutney put a motion to investigate the dawn police raid on the group in Martin Place and help find Occupy a site for the protest.
But Moore replied that she had to “balance the rights of residents, visitors, workers and others to have access to the public domain”.
But Occupy Sydney did not block or stop any of this from taking place throughout its week-day camp at Martin Place. All the polls showed majority support for the protest.
Moore also refused to agree to council calling on the Ombudsman to investigate the police violence against peaceful protesters, saying “the NSW Police do a difficult job and they have my support”.
Doutney's motion was supported by only herself, Greens councillor Chris Harris and ALP councillor Meredith Burgmann.
Moore then put a counter motion to host a “City Talk” forum on the issues that Occupy is raising, which would hear from key business leaders and state and federal representatives.
When the packed public gallery began to interject, Moore suddenly left the room. She returned five minutes later to accept Doutney’s amendment that Occupy Sydney be invited to send a representative to the forum.
Occupy Sydney supporters left the council meeting to discuss a response. Outreach activities such as an open-air school, a public tour of corporate sites in the city, and support for refugee rights and marriage equality rights at the ALP conference in early December are among the campaign plans.
For more information, visit Occupy Sydney
Comments
Anonymous replied on Permalink