MELBOURNE Activists are rounding up thousands of supporters to blockade a World Economic Forum meeting in Melbourne in September, reviving the angry protests which disrupted World Trade talks in Seattle last year.
Green groups, debt relief advocates, labor activists and others worried about the impact of free trade will march outside the forum hosted by a group that also holds annual meetings of policymakers and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland.
"We expect it to be a disciplined, non-violent action which will endeavor to shut down the World Economic Forum. That's our aim," said Cam Walker, National Liaison officer for Friends of the Earth.
The World Economic Forum's Asia Pacific Economic Summit is scheduled for September 11-13, just before the Sydney Olympic games.
Friends of the Earth is one of several members of the S11 coalition organizing the protests.
"A mass blockade with street parties, music and performances (is) being planned to surround Crown Casino, September 11-13," S11's Website says.
Topping a long cast of business leaders attending the summit are Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates and the heads of Novell Inc., Siemens AG, Softbank Corp., and Vivendi.
Other confirmed participants include politicians from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam, and two Central Bank governors.
The organizers say it is futile for protesters to target the World Economic Forum because it is not a decision-making body like the World Trade Organization.
"I don't think this summit here or what we do in Davos ... are comparable to the WTO ministerial conference," World Economic Forum Managing Director Claude Smadja told reporters in June.
But Walker said that was a pointless argument.
"Through their networking and conferencing, you get corporate-led globalization, and as such it's a legitimate target," Walker told Reuters.
Neither the groups nor the police want to say how many demonstrators they are expecting, but Walker said it was likely to be in the thousands, mostly Australians.
Police have been talking to the protest leaders in an effort to prevent the kind of ugly clashes seen in Seattle and at gatherings of world leaders in Washington and Davos over the past nine months.
"We're hopeful and optimistic that the event will go ahead as planned, smoothly, and that those who want to protest will be able to do so peacefully," said Victoria State police spokesman Kevin Loomes.
No reinforcements have been lined up, but Victoria police have cancelled all employees' holidays for September to cope with several major events on in Melbourne during the month, mostly linked to the Olympics.
(Reuter)