SYDNEY — Resistance believes that the level of community anger about the Olympics Games here lays the basis for large protest actions, and has pledged to mobilise high school and university students for protests during and leading up to the Olympics.
There is plenty to protest about: environmental problems with the Homebush Bay Olympics site; increased pressure on the public transport system; rent hikes and a reduction in low income housing due to Olympics-driven urban development; crackdowns on civil liberties and on the homeless; and the outrageous amount of public money being pumped into the games, while budgets for social welfare, transport and health are cut.
The driving force behind the Olympics is the sheer scale of the profits available to businesses from development, tourist spending, promotion and advertising. The International Olympic Committee has become a major commercial enterprise, operating like a transnational corporation. The environment, social services and civil liberties take second place.
Sydney's bid for the Olympics included accusing rival bidder China of human right abuses. This is utter hypocrisy given the treatment of Aboriginal people in Australia and the fact that the federal Coalition government has implemented some of the harshest refugee laws in the world.
Athlete Cathy Freeman has spoken out against the Aboriginal people disrupting the games, but since the federal Coalition government dumped any pretence to support "reconciliation", more Aboriginal leaders have come out in support of protests.
A range of groups have begun organising protests, including the Olympic Impact Coalition, Rentwatchers and civil liberties group Justice Action.
The S19 group has also been involved. It is loosely linked to the J18 committee formed to organise an anti-corporate day of action on June 18 last year. J18 involved groups such as Reclaim the Streets, Critical Mass and the National Union of Students.
Resistance will be working with these and other groups and coalitions to get the largest number of people possible out onto the streets. We are prepared to defy new police powers and council restrictions introduced for the Olympics so that dissenting voices can be heard.
Resistance will be campaigning around the following platform:
repeal the racist laws against refugees;
land rights for Aboriginal people now;
money for health, education and welfare, not the Olympics;
increase funding for housing support services; and
no restrictions on protest before and during the Olympics.