Well see how many turn up in a country of 20,000,000
Nationwide protests for Bush visit October 21, 2003
PROTESTS will be held across Australia tomorrow as US President George W Bush arrives for his 24-hour maiden visit, activists warned today.
Actions are planned for all capital cities, except Hobart, culminating with a national rally on the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday.
The government has warned that tight security will be in force during Mr Bush's visit involving federal and water police, the air force and navy and special counter-terrorism troops.
In Sydney, 5,000 people including Senators Bob Brown and Natasha Stott Despoja and federal Labor MP Harry Quick, are expected to gather at Sydney Town Hall at 5pm tomorrow (AEST) before marching to the US consulate at Martin Place.
Hundreds are expected to demonstrate at other locations around the nation.
"The main event is in Canberra, but it's a solidarity process," said Tom Barnes, a spokesman for the Melbourne event and member of the Stop Bush's War Committee.
Protesters, opposed to Australia's support of the US in the "war against terror", would agitate for the return of Australian troops from Iraq, Sydney rally organiser Nick Everett told AAP today.
"Intelligence was falsified to try and convince people to proceed with an illegal war," he said in a statement.
Mr Everett said protesters also objected to the proposed US-Australia free trade agreement, saying it was the Howard government's "prize" for committing troops to Iraq.
Some 40,000 leaflets had been distributed to generate support for the event, with posters and community festivals also being used to promote the cause.
A spokesman for NSW Police would not confirm the number of police attending tomorrow's Sydney protest, but said they had been liaising with rally organisers and the normal "public order" requirements would prevail.
The US consulate had also been contacted.
Australia's largest anti-war march was held in February, when an estimated half a million people joined rallies nationally.
