S11 hits regional Victoria
BY JACQUIE MOON
GEELONG — With only two weeks to go until the S11 protests hit Melbourne, Victoria's regional residents are jumping on board the actions against the World Economic Forum (WEF). Geelong for Global Justice and the Environment has spent the last month publicising the protests.
Geelong's residents have felt first-hand the damage done by the WEF's giant corporate members. Shell's oil refinery has polluted much of the area and logging companies' pillaging of the nearby Otways has caused a drop in water quality in western Victoria.
Surf town Torquay has been covered in S11 protest posters and further along the coast activists in Warrnambool are planning to show a film about the Seattle anti-free trade demonstrations. In Ballarat, 19 people attended an August 22 meeting at the university to discuss the WEF and S11 actions. They've planned an all-ages punk gig the weekend before the blockade to raise money for train tickets.
The Geelong group hopes to organise a regional Victoria contingent to attend the blockade and is asking other regional groups to meet at Spencer Street Station at 8am on September 11 to march to the blockade together.