Councillor Chris Harris

On Saturday May 23rd I attended a large but peaceful rally organised by the Tamil community in Sydney where I read a statement of support from the Greens NSW parliamentarians – this statement also reflects my view.  Other speakers included Phillip Boulten, barrister defending Tamils who are being prosecuted on terror-related charges, Reverend John Barr, Uniting Church, and supporter of Tamil rights, Phil Glendenning, Director Edmund Rice Centre – an advocacy group for refugees, and Michael Thomson, president, Sydney University branch of the National Tertiary Education Union, NSW vice president general staff, plus Dr Sam Pari and other Tamil community leaders.

Below is the message from the parliamentarians
 

Statement by Greens NSW Members of Parliament
 
Ian Cohen, Sylvia Hale, John Kaye and Lee Rhiannon
 
Friends
 
Our hearts go out to you, your families and your community as you confront the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe that has been inflicted on the Tamils of Sri Lanka.
 
The Sri Lankan government and army have displayed an appalling level of brutality and callous disregard for lives of innocent civilians.
 
For this crime against humanity of historic proportions, they deserve global condemnation.
 
So too do their super-power allies, including the Chinese government, who have supplied the Sri Lankan military with weapons and support and enthusiastically leapt to the defence of the Rajapaksa government at the UN and in other international forums.
 
The Greens call on all governments to speak out against the callous disregard for human rights, the targeting of civilians and the exclusion of aid agencies and human rights monitors from the conflict zone.
 
It is time to show no tolerance to the perpetrators of heinous crimes against the Tamil people of Sri Lanka.
 
It is time to demand an end to super-power support for the murderous army and the government that supports them.
 
It is time for the international community to demand a fair deal for the Tamils.
 
The Greens share with you a commitment to working for a peaceful settlement in Sri Lanka that respects the rights of Tamils to live free of fear and to determine their own future. 
 
To all of you who have lost family members and friends and who have loved ones living in appalling conditions in territories now occupied by the army, our thoughts are with you.
 

Twenty-one ‘life savers’ surrounded by a huge contingent of police were last Friday welcomed by Deputy Lord Mayor and Greens Cr Chris Harris to the ‘declared area’ in front of the US Embassy in Martin Place.

The 21 climate savers represented the 21 member nations meeting at the APEC summit in Sydney.

With Greens Senator Kerry Nettle, MP Sylvia Hale, and Greens candidate for Sydney Jenny Leong, Cr Chris Harris called on the APEC leaders to stop talking and start taking real action to prevent climate change while they still had the chance.

Chris Harris: “Walking from The Domain to this media conference today we were escorted by ten police on bicycles. While it was distressing that the police felt the need to escort people who believe in peace and non-violence, it was comforting to see that these police were at least on bikes rather than in gas guzzling SUVs. Read the rest of this entry »

I attended a Climate change protest in Martin Place on Friday and the larger protest rally and march from Town Hall Square to Hyde Park on Saturday. I found the police presence to be overbearing, disproportionate, aggressive and intimidating and I found my beautiful city and its lively atmosphere reduced to that of a large town in a third world police state. We should not allow our government to suppress dissent and the public voice in this manner.

On Friday I witnessed the arrest of the man who squirted tomato sauce on a pro-Bush banner in Hyde Park. It reminded me of a pack of dogs attacking a rabbit. Numerous police armed to the teeth pushed the man to the ground, twisted his arms and wrist and jammed his face into the dirt and yelled and screamed at him with every second utterance containing variations of the word “f***”. It was nothing short of a cowardly assault. Apologies to individual police if they were “just following orders”.

The scene was frightening and deeply disturbing and presented to me as a totally disproportionate response by uniformed bullies in response to an incident that should have been dealt with by one or two police, a firm verbal request and a warning or demand of an apology.

In my view, the citizens of Sydney should resist this kind of power in the hands of police and should receive a retraction and apology for the ridiculous scare mongering by the Police Commissioner in the days preceding APEC. It looked like Sydney‘s version of “Children Overboard” and “WMD” to many of us who were there and witnessed a good-spirited and peaceful two days of protest and attempted expression of free speech.

Picture: Riot Squad ’storm troopers’ arrive at the rear of the rally, many with their name-badges removed, backed up by the new water cannon. Click on for more pictures. Read the rest of this entry »

A Darlinghurst resident, annoyed that Councillors would not back Chris Harris’ motion to display a ‘Cage Bush. Not Sydney’ banner on Town Hall, offered their top floor balcony with views to the Opera House and North Shore.

So a Greens team put together a banner, which will be solidly mounted tomorrow morning in time for the APEC conference proper.

For more pictures of Sydney’s lockdown, click on… Read the rest of this entry »

Even as our city is being enclosed in brand-new heavy duty wire mesh, John Howard has posted a YouTube clip claiming there is no need to protest because the APEC agenda is all about preventing climate change and reducing poverty.

Since when have we had to incarcerate our city to speak of climate change and poverty?

With loudspeakers and surveillance cameras installed on street corners, helicopters overhead and police in numbers we have rarely, if ever seen before, is this the real legacy of APEC?

Click on to see more pictures. See post below to get your ‘Cage Bush. Not Sydney’ tee shirt!

Read the rest of this entry »