BY ZANNY BEGG
SYDNEY — Inside the luxurious Westin Hotel on October 20, young business entrepreneurs rubbed shoulders with corporate leaders from such companies as Chubb Security, AMP, Multiplex, Coles Myer and British American Tobacco and then enjoyed a $500-a-head luncheon hosted by John Howard.
Outside the hotel, 150 people gathered for a noisy protest organised by the anti-corporate group CACTUS and distributed free food to the poor. Despite the protesters being entirely peaceful, police used horses to drive them out of the hotel entrance way, forcing them to regroup in Martin Place.
The CACTUS rally was addressed by representatives of the Refugee Action Collective, Indigenous Solidarity Network, construction union, AidWatch, NSW Greens and Cross-Campus Women's Network.
CACTUS activist and Resistance member Will Williams encouraged those present to show their solidarity with the demonstrations against the ASEM parliamentarians meeting in South Korea (see page 22). Power of the Working Class, a socialist group in South Korea, sent CACTUS a message of solidarity.
CACTUS will be holding a public meeting on November 2 at the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre to discuss the next steps in the anti-corporate campaign in Sydney.