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| Occupy Brisbane in the city's Post Office Square. Photo: Occupybrisbane/Facebook |
Occupations in Sydney and Melbourne have been violently broken up by police in the past few days, but the Occupy Brisbane camp at Post Office Square is going well so far. At this stage, there is no sign of police or Brisbane City Council harassment.
A general assembly of the camp was held at noon on October 23. About 100 people attended.
The main discussions were about how to respond to the police evictions of the Occupy Melbourne and Occupy Sydney camps. While no threats from police have been received so far, that could change at any time.
Discussion focussed on how to defend the camp with non-violent resistance, and planned to quickly mobilise supporters to defend the camp, especially if a police raid occurred in the early morning as in Sydney.
The need to seek broader support, including from unions, was emphasised.
Following the assembly, there was music from the group Jumping Fences. Also, the first seminar of the new “Free University of Brisbane” presented to about 150 people.
Veteran activists Jeff Rickertt, Dan O'Neill and Ian Curr gave talks about the radical history of Brisbane, from the 1912 General Strike, to the 1960s civil liberties and anti-Vietnam War movement to the right to march campaign of the 1970s against the Joh Bjelke-Petersen regime.
