Australians March against NWO
Tens of thousands of protesters have marched through city
streets across Australia, waving placards vilifying Prime Minister Tony
Abbott and venting their anger at the policies of conservative state
and federal governments.
The March in March event attracted the
largest crowd in Melbourne, where more than 10,000 people - among them
parents, students, environmentalists, refugee supporters, cab drivers,
teachers and children - gathered in the city centre.
About 2000
swarmed on central Brisbane to show their disdain for the direction
taken by Liberal governments and just under 10,000 protested in Sydney,
local police told AAP.
Many of the headline-grabbing polices of
the Commonwealth, NSW, WA and Queensland governments were attacked
during an event organisers say is a grassroots, non-partisan peaceful
protest spawned from conversations on social media.
The organisers claim March in March has 45,000 Facebook supporters, amassed since the conversation began in January.
Speeches
on indigenous rights, asylum seekers, education funding and university
cuts featured in the Melbourne march, which 17,000 people said on
Facebook they would attend.
'Transit not tolls' and 'Turn back the AbBoat' signs were brandished by members of the eclectic crowd.
Blackburn
couple Dyan and Andrew brought their kids, Dylan, Harper and Marlo,
because they wanted to teach their children to voice their opposition
to governments they don't agree with.
'I've never been moved as much by any other government in my life as this to protest,' Dyan told AAP.
In
Sydney, placards suggesting Mr Abbott has Satan on speed-dial and
others denouncing the illuminati and global weather conspiracies were
waved as rain fell on the park hosting the event.
About 12,000 said on Facebook they would march in Sydney but the figure was just under 10,000 despite a large thunderstorm.
Mining
magnate Gina Rinehart was targeted by British singer-songwriter Billy
Bragg for suggesting Australia should adopt hard-line conservative
Thatcherite policies.
He also drew the crowd's attention to what he believes is the real problem with contemporary politics.
'The true enemy is not actually capitalism or conservatism - it's cynicism,' he told the crowd.
'It's
the amount of bile that appears on the internet when anyone makes a
political point - particularly vile attacks on Twitter to intelligent
young women expressing an opinion.'
Signs at the Sydney protest
suggested the weather is being controlled by America's High Frequency
Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) and others featured a picture
of Mr Abbott on the telephone with the caption 'hello Satan?'
Another
branded him the 'minister for ditch the witch', a reference to slogans
aimed at former Labor prime minister Julia Gillard during 2011's
carbon tax protests.
Asylum seekers, climate change, gay marriage
and the Newman government were the focus of the Brisbane march, which
started in Queens Park.
Organiser Matt Donovan, a former Labor candidate, denounced Immigration Minister Scott Morrison's treatment of asylum seekers.
He
also took a swipe at Queensland Premier Campbell Newman, dubbing him
'our dear leader' in a comparison to deceased North Korean despot Kim
Jong-il.
'I know many of you protesters are here, in fact, to
protest the arrogant, despotic, far-right, authoritarian, self-serving,
bully-boy government and the police state he has created,' Mr Donovan
said.
The event will culminate on Monday when protesters deliver a notice of no confidence to Parliament House.
While
the protesters spread their message across the mainland, the Liberal
Party was celebrating its return to government in Tasmania, where it
crushed the ALP, which received just 27 per cent of primary votes.