There’s been a lot of talk of protest this week…Sydney will be in lockdown with the APEC summit starting today and protestors and police still unable to agree on the precise protest march route through Sydney’s CBD.
 
Meantime in Melbourne, two men were arrested on Friday for protesting outside a court hearing into violence at last year’s G20 summit, where of course, there was a massive turnout of protestors. Also on Friday, protestors used trucks and tractors to stop the state’s premier, John Brumby, from leaving the site where he made an announcement about water, because they were unhappy about a plan to pipe water from Goulburn to Melbourne.

It got us thinking here at Open House, does protest ever achieve change? Do you think protest works? Have you ever taken part in a protest or demonstration?

The Oxford dictionary definition of protest as: “a statement or action expressing disapproval or objection. 2 an organized public demonstration objecting to an official policy or course of action.”

Maybe in your student days you took part in a protest. What was the cause? And in hindsight do you think it made a difference?

I want to hear about the full spectrum of protest. It could be anything from writing a letter to the newspaper about something you felt passionate about, to walking across the Sydney Harbour Bridge for Reconciliation Day, to actually taking part in an organised group protest or demonstration.

Maybe you would NEVER take part in a protest. I want to hear from you too.