V for vague: Occupy Sydney's faceless leaders (original) (raw)
By Glenda Kwek
October 14, 2011 — 5.23pm
He would not give his name, age, occupation or reveal his motivations.
He's one of the people behind the "Occupy Sydney" protests and he says anonymity and the absence of leadership is what defines the movement.
V mask ... One of the demonstrators with 'Occupy Wall Street' protest at Zuccotti Park in New York yesterday, wearing the V for Vendatta mask.Credit: AFP
He won't say how many people are involved or who they are.
As he and others prepare to camp out at Martin Place in Sydney CBD from tomorrow afternoon, protesters at "Occupy Wall Street" in New York ready themselves for a showdown with police after being told they had to clear out of the park they have been camping in since September 17.
The premise of "Occupy Sydney" is simple - "an assembly who are disaffected by the high-cost of living in Australia to come and decide as equals what we are doing about it", he said.
Like the other "Occupy" protests across the world, "Occupy Sydney" draws heavily from the comic book and film V for Vendetta.
The Twitter photo for @occupySYDNEY is of the Guy Fawkes mask used in the 2006 film V for Vendetta.
The V for Vendetta book and film portrayed a dystopian world set in Britain in the 1980s and 1990s where a man wearing the Guy Fawkes mask and known as "V" fights against the totalitarian government.
V's identity and background are kept ambiguous - a symbol of how his ideas, rather than his identity, are more important to his movement.
The mask has also been worn by US protesters and by Anonymous, an internet activist hacking collective.
The ideals are also similar - a revolt against government and corporate control and corruption.
"We are very much in solidarity with [Occupy Wall Street's] reasons, being that large corporations have co-opted control of the country's resources and of the way we do things," the anonymous "Occupy Sydney" commentator said.
I can't say. We've decided to keep that confidential
"Everything that we live today is influenced by banks. And we believe in a society where, I'm sorry, banks and governments are influenced by us. We don't have that at the moment, and we need to correct that."
What is known about the Sydney camping protest is it is meant to create an "assembly" that will discuss how the status quo can be changed.
Topics being bandied about by those involved include climate justice, migration and the role of the border under capitalism, the Sydney housing crisis, fundamentals of anarchism and the role of the media, according to emails obtained by smh.com.au.
Some of those activists involved include Josh Lees, who has been active in the Refugee Action Coalition and Socialist Alternative.
So will the rally draw the large crowds seen in the US?
The anonymous "Occupy Sydney" commenter would not say.
"I can't say. We've decided to keep that confidential."
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A police spokesman said officers estimated a turnout of 300 people between 2.30pm and 4.30pm.
"As the protest will not be on the roads, police do not expect any disruption for motorists," the spokesman said.
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