Australia has become a prime target for Web-enabled agitation, as it prepares
to stage two globally recognised events in quick succession. Melbourne will host
a summit of the World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org) on 11 September, and
Sydney hosts the Olympic Games (www.olympics.com) just four days later.
According to a story at the australia.internet.com portal, protests along
the lines of the 鈥渂attle for Seattle鈥� at the World Trade Organization summit
last December could be in the offing
(www.australia.internet.com/article.jsp?sid=342670).
The World Economic Forum includes the
chief executive officers of the top 1000 multinationals, alongside influential
economists and politicians. This time, protestors are said to be expanding their
targets to include 鈥渢he wives of CEOs at popular Australian tourist
诲别蝉迟颈苍补迟颈辞苍蝉鈥�.
The 11 September (S-11) protest aims to block the World Economic Forum鈥檚
casino venue for 72 hours. New South Wales police are said to be monitoring
relevant Net traffic. At www.s11.org, you can find out why the loose affiliation
of protest groups wants to shut down the Forum鈥攁nd how they plan to use
cellphone text messaging and bike couriers to coordinate their action in the
event of a Net shutdown.
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The Anti-Olympic Alliance includes Aboriginal groups fighting for land
rights and social justice. Their plans include erecting tent cities near
Olympics venues. But temporary laws in force for the duration of the Games ban
demos in certain areas. See the protestors鈥� take on this at the Sydney
Alternative Media Centre (www.samcentre.org). The protestors will doubtless be
buoyed by last week鈥檚 UN report, which backed claims that Aborigines suffer
disadvantages in employment, housing, health and education. The Howard
administration responded by calling for reform of the UN鈥攁nd blocking
visits by UN committees until this happens.
