Reply #4: The police presence was total overkill, and very provocative.

[Matilda]

I went to the march with Mr Matilda and we arranged to meet our daughter
there. She was late, and tried to join the march from Castlereagh St,
but was told by a cop that she couldn't. She asked why, and he just said
"because it's the rule". She backed off, and when he was distracted by
someone else, slipped round the police van blocking the road and joined
the march. We kept in touch by mobile phone, and managed to find each
other - glad they didn't shut down the mobile network this afternoon.

We were near the front of the march, and missed the confrontations, which
happened behind us. But when we reached the intersection of Park and
Elizabeth Streets, where we were then supposed to move into Hyde Park
(as ruled by the Supreme Court on Wednesday), the police vans blocked
our way. After about twenty minutes, they moved a van blocking access
up Park Street back a few hundred feet, but blocked the entrance to
both north and south sides of the park. Another ten minutes or so, and
they finally moved the van away. They seemed to be waiting until the
rear of the march caught up, then they stood shoulder to shoulder and
literally herded us all into the north side of the park. Once we were
all there, they wouldn't let anybody leave. A lot of us thought we were
being set up for a confrontation where we wouldn't be able to escape
the water cannon. Thankfully, that didn't happen, but still nobody
was allowed to leave the park or cross the streets bordering the park
on each side.

One of the best moments in the afternoon came when a group of cops who'd
been photographing the crowd during the post-march speeches moved down
a path in a group, followed by protesters beating drums, clapping, and
cheering. My daughter and I joined a "guard of honour" at the side of
the path and cheered and clapped as the cops went by. The way the police
were behaving this afternoon, a little cop-baiting felt good for the
soul.

The organisers estimated the crowd at 10,000; the cops said it was 3,000.
My rough guess would be anywhere between 6,000-7,000 - for a wet day,
and following weeks of intimadatory statements by both police and
politicians, this was a good turnout for Sydney.