BY GRAHAM MATTHEWS
MELBOURNE
In a massive outpouring of anger against proposed Australian support for
war on Iraq, 45,000 people rallied on October 13. Jammed shoulder to shoulder
across several city blocks, the participants marched through the city from
the State Library.
Following the example of protesters in the US, the particpants recited a pledge titled Not in Our Name, vowing to oppose any war on the people of Iraq.
Protesters of all ages and many different backgrounds were represented in the crowd. The protest gathered together community organisations. The sea of banners included those from refugee-rights groups, the Close Pine Gap Coalition, the Socialist Alliance, the Greens, the Democrats and even some ALP branches, such as St Kilda and North Fitzroy.
Unions played a prominent role in the protest, which was chaired by Victorian Trades Hall secretary Leigh Hubbard. Members of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union led the march, and other unions noticeable in the crowd included the National Tertiary Education Industry Union, the Australian Services Union, the Electrical Trades Union and the Australian Education Union.
Clowns for Peas, whose placards read Idiots for War when flipped over, handed out lollies to children with wrappers that explained that 47,000 children were killed in the 1991 Gulf War.
From Green Left Weekly, October 16, 2002.
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