RTS - Sydney - 8th April

[rioters bloc]

Reclaim The Streets! - Cross City Tunnel Occupation! – Saturday 8th April 2006 – Meet at the IMAX 1pm for a Direct Action Street Party!

An RTS has been called for Saturday the 8th of April, and all of you and your friends are invited to get involved and make it a party to remember! In a controversial move, the RTS Sydney Collective have decided to Reclaim the most contentious place in Sydney (besides Kirribilly) - The Cross City Tunnel.

There are a number of excellent reasons for targeting the Cross City Tunnel in an RTS, including:
•The (largely hush hush) environmental impact of the huge ventilation chimney next to the IMAX.
•The cynical employment of the Cross City Tunnel as a money making venture for the State Government and a shadowy international consortium.
•The coercive tactics used by those who profit, such as road narrowing and traffic light manipulation, to maximise profits, and the complete disrespect shown towards those who use the roads, or live and work around William Street.

We believe more roads are not the answer, especially private ones, and we want to see more bicycle infrastructure, investment in long term sustainable transport, and a greater emphasis on public consultation prior to, and inclusion in, the design process.

We believe that this farce is the direct result of a State Government with too much power and no direct accountability to the people whose lives it directly affects. The tunnel is losing close to $5, 000, 000 a month, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out who will pick up the tab. The Taxpayers and public transport users of NSW will be forced to pay for the State Government’s greed, unaccountability and stupidity. The occupation of the Cross City Tunnel will send a clear message to the State Government and any other entity that attempts to cynically manipulate us. Our lives and social spaces are ours, and we will not be coerced, divided, and monopolised in our everyday lives!

The time has come to resist all external intervention in lives that we, as societies of individuals, should be creating for ourselves. Taking and reclaiming the streets for our communities and our lives has never been more important in this age of division and disempowerment! A community occupation of the Cross City Tunnel as a Reclaim The Streets party is a perfect way to begin to take back what is rightfully ours! Ultimately it is in the streets that power must be dissolved: for the streets are where daily life is administered and eroded, and where power is confronted and fought. We must continue to transform the streets into a domain where daily life is enjoyed, created and nourished!

As yet there are no plans to go through the tunnel –YUK! Imagine the fumes!

Your input is absolutely necessary to make something sublime happen. Organising meetings will be held Sunday afternoon at 4pm in Camperdown Park (beer provided) and there are a number of roles to be taken up - so if you're not arrestable on the day, there's still plenty to get up to. We need input on strategy particulars, flag making, banner painting, float construction, first aid, and media, as well as anything else you can think of. It will be what you make it!

Forget about petitions, speeches, and marches - let's remake the world as we see fit! Direct Action, Sustainability, Anarchy, Self Expression and Community are the guiding principles of any RTS.

Meet 1pm Saturday 8Th of April at IMAX Darling Harbour for the radical street party Sydney has never seen!

RTS Crew Sydney 2006.

[rioters bloc]

bumpin'

[rioters bloc]

bump thump chumps



w00t tomorrow, cthenthar and apathy maybe will be there and hopefully they wont get arrested... <_<

[Black Dagger]

Spit on some pigs/motorists for me.

[rioters bloc]

im doing media observer stuff&#33;&#33;&#33;

cos i&#39;m trying to be good and NOT get more charges laid against me <_<

but the video camera im using is dodgy so people shouldnt rely on me for evidence... *looks at arrestable people*

[Ian]

I hate RTS

[Black Dagger]

Why?

[Ian]

Lifestylist shit which very obviously turns people off left-wing politics, I went to one a few years ago not knowing entirely what it was about and all that was said was some nonsensical stuff about taking back the streets then blocking a main intersection and playing terrible music out of some wheelie bin, needless to say I left early.

[Black Dagger]

It&#39;s not really lifestylist, since it involves getting out and doing stuff in public space, whereas lifestylism is generally characterised by a detachment from &#39;mainstream&#39; society, and doing things in private, for yourself. I don&#39;t think many people who go to RTS really expect it to &#39;spark a revolution&#39;, the event is about having fun and reclaiming public spaces for people, it&#39;s meant to be a fun, carnival atmosphere.

I really doubt that RTS will turn anyone off &#39;left-wing politics&#39;, the only people who get annoyed are people who get stuck in traffic (and they&#39;re not likely to find out what was going on), everyone else usually finds the whole thing weird, funny, amusing etc. Moreover, it&#39;s not an explicitly &#39;left-wing&#39; event, i know there&#39;s a lot of crusty hippies there, but it&#39;s not as if they&#39;re burning cars and smashing shopfronts, it&#39;s not the kind of event that will burn into someone&#39;s memory a deep-seated aversion to &#39;leftism&#39;.

[apathy maybe]

I&#39;ve been thinking about Lifestylism and individualism and RTS and Food not Bombs and other things like that. And I think that to a certain extent RTS is "lifestylist", it is not revolutionary, it isn&#39;t changing anything; rather it is creating what might be termed a temporary autonomous zone (TAZ).

Anyway, no one got arrested I think. So that was good. I had a little bit of fun to make up for shitty Sydney. (I&#39;m sorry to those of you who like the place, but I think it is too big, too commercial, and too many people.)