The Occupy movement has sprung up in Cairns, where street activities kicked off on October 15 in City Place. About 200 people took part.
Since then, up to 40 people have met each Sunday. This will continue with alternating weeks of discussions about plans for Occupy, along with music, presentations and an open mike.
Discussion among those involved in Occupy Cairns is increasingly turning to how to address not just local issues but national and international questions of corporate power. Fourteen working groups have discussed various issues and how the new group will work.
As well as the main meeting, impromptu gatherings and forums will take place in the city’s central square.
Green Left Weekly held a public forum at Occupy on November 10. Brisbane-based Socialist Alliance co-convener Jim McIlroy told the forum that the key slogans of the worldwide Occupy movement — "We are the 99%!" and "Human need, not corporate greed!" — challenged the rule of the super-rich 1%.
He said it asserts the democratic rights of the “99%”. He also described the progress of the Occupy Brisbane camp into an organised tent city, now re-established in Musgrave Park, where it has been welcomed by the local Murri elders.