Treasurer Joe Hockey could not escape hearing the voice of the people when 100 staff, students and community activists rallied on the Smithfield campus of James Cook University in Cairns on September 18.
The rally highlighted the federal government's planned cuts to higher education and the rest of the budget.
The National Tertiary Education Union JCU branch called the rally because Hockey was speaking at a business conference at JCU before attending a G20 finance ministers meeting in Cairns.
ActionAid campaigner Kshithij Urs spoke at the rally. He also spoke the night before to 50 people at a Green Left Weekly public meeting on creating alternatives to the G20.
Other G20-related community actions included a September 21 international climate change rally, called at short notice in the face of an over-the-top police presence. About 200 people took part, marching to the edge of the "restricted zone" imposed around the G20 meeting site.
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