The streets were full but still they came
Sydney Morning Herald By Neil Mercer, Sean Nicholls and Ellen Connolly February 17 2003
All ages, all creeds, all ethnic backgrounds ... Sarah Yassine, 9, of Auburn, followed by a giant Grim Reaper as the march made its way up George Street yesterday. Photo: Peter Rae
The centre of Sydney came to a standstill yesterday when more than 250,000 people crammed into Hyde Park and the surrounding streets to protest against the looming war with Iraq.
The peace rally, thought to be the biggest in the country's history - police put the crowd at more than 200,000, while organisers put it at about 300,000 - took the total number of Australians who have marched since Friday to more than 500,000.
In Sydney there were babies, toddlers and teenagers, the middle-aged and the elderly, and they came from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds.
They arrived from all directions, mostly on foot, but also in strollers, on dad's back, on stilts and in wheelchairs, although many were left stranded when the bus and rail network was unable to cope.
Thousands carried banners, paper doves, United Nations flags and placards.
"Kill Bush, Blair, Sharon and Howard," said one, but it missed the mood of the rally, which was serious but good-natured.
Closer to the mark was the popular "Somewhere in Texas a village is missing its idiot."
"No war" signs were everywhere and "No war" T-shirts sold by the Greens were disappearing fast even before the rally started just after noon.
Tom Uren, the former Labor Party minister who first took part in an anti-war march in 1969, said: "I've never seen anything like it."
As the crowd grew, it was difficult to move in parts of the park.
Dozens sought a vantage point on the roof of the entrance to St James station in Elizabeth Street and the nearby coffee shop, while others climbed trees.
Applause and laughter greeted an effigy of George Bush towing an effigy of John Howard as a dog - with his nose regularly making contact with the US President's backside.
Thunderous cheers and applause greeted speakers, including the Greens' Senator Bob Brown and the journalist John Pilger.
Just before the rally got under way, Senator Brown told The Herald: "This is going to send a message to our Prime Minister that he cannot ignore. This is democracy on the move."
The former Liberal minister Peter Baume, now chancellor of the Australian National University, said backstage: "We have never started a war. Why start now?"
Commenting on the crowd, he said: "There's a message there, and if they [the Government] don't listen to it they are mugs."
A few metres away from him the NSW Deputy Premier, Andrew Refshauge, stood talking to members of the crowd.
At 1.10pm the march got under way, or at least it did for those in Elizabeth Street. For those near the stage, making the 100 metres to the street - normally covered in a minute or so - took the best part of an hour.
Just before 2pm a decision to divert the march down Art Gallery Road and into the Domain was taken by organisers on the advice of the police, who believed the numbers made it impossible to steer them back into Hyde Park.
Once there, the marchers collapsed onto the grass in the heat, many seeking some shade under trees.
"It was beyond everybody's expectations," said Bruce Childs, a spokesman for the Walk Against the War Coalition.
"We knew it was going to be big, but didn't realise it was going to be as big as it was."
He believed about 300,000 people had "walked the route".
A spokesman for State Transit said it had underestimated the size of the crowd, many of whom were forced to walk many kilometres into town when bulging trains, buses and light rail left thousands behind.
Extra services were added in the afternoon as people left.
Adding to the chaos, the North Shore line was closed yesterday due to track work.
Buses were brought in to replace the trains.
War of the words
Placards spotted among the marchers yesterday:
Somewhere in Texas a village has lost its idiot Howard is Bush's fridge magnet Fight plaque not Iraq War is so 20th century Stop mad cowboy disease War begins with Dubya Axis of Weasels That's Oil Folks If it's not UN it's not ON How Many Lives Per Gallon? Not in my name, not with my taxes Weapons of Mass Distraction