ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY ON INTERNET TROLLS, BULLYING AND INTIMIDATION TO CONTINUE AS AVO AGAINST FORMER MAYOR OF PRESTON, ALAN COUTINHO-HOGAN IS UPHELD.

‘No McDonald’s in the Dandenong Ranges’ declared on the 25th of April that far too many times this campaign has turned the other cheek to the antisocial trolling and bullying, today we say STOP!

On May the 14th one brave young woman, daughter of ‘No McDonald’s in Tecoma’ spokesperson Garry Muratore, decided to stand up to her attacker and seek an intervention order.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/gangrape-threat-allegations-in-ugly-court-stoush-between-tecoma-mcdonalds-campaigners-20140514-zrcaw.html#ixzz31lqq4S9Q

Included here is a reportback from a Community Campaigner that attended the hearing at Ringwood Magistrates Court yesterday:

“Once again it was ‘standing room only’ at Ringwood Magistrates’ Court yesterday morning.
A large group of our community, including Cr Samantha Dunn, went to support the daughter of our Campaign spokesperson Garry Muratore. The follow up hearing was to obtain a Intervention Order against former Preston Mayor, Alan Coutinho-Hogan.
This time the hearing was far more formal with both parties being represented by barristers.
The witnesses Mr Coutinho-Hogan suggested he would call for his defense did not appear. He sat alone, supported only by his briefcase and paid representation (it was also interesting to witness his refusal to move his case to allow another person to sit in the packed courtroom).
Mr Coutinho-Hogan had suggested that he was going to fight this Intervention Order but this did not eventuate. The Order was granted with one interesting stipulation requested by Mr Coutinho-Hogan… he requested the right to still attend Tecoma McDonald’s to continue to protest the protesters!
I am so very proud of Garry’s daughter Amy. This young lady is strong, fair and continues to champion the right to freedom of speech and association even for those that have treated her so poorly.
Mr Coutinho-Hogan’s absurd amendment was included and the Order is now in place.

Magistrate Marc Sargent read out the order in the courtroom for everyone to hear. The Intervention Order is very clear and will hopefully put an end to the disgusting threats and rants Amy has been subjected to by this man.
Further details of the order are included in the attached article.
I must ask that all members of this page to show restraint when commenting on this matter and abide by our campaign ‘Code of Conduct’.
With this in mind comments regarding this article will be monitored closely by Admin and moderated where necessary.”
***Copied with permission by original poster Esther Kelly.

Mr. Alan Coutinho-Hogan openly declared via social media yesterday afternoon that he will be running in the next State Election for the seat of Monbulk to “close down anti-McDonald’s & other cults”. He went on to suggest that Tecoma McDonald’s will be the safest place for him to be during the election period.

We are left wondering how James Currie will respond to the suggestion that Mr. Coutinho-Hogan is intending to base his election campaign in the Tecoma outlet?

Comments posted here will be monitored closely by Admin and moderated where necessary.

Restrictions of our freedom of movement were taken away by McDonalds last year.

Monday the 30th of June saw the end of the injunction that had been displayed on walls and fences of the unwelcome outlet throughout its construction and ‘not so grand’ opening. It has served as a constant reminder of the intimidation McDonald’s has held over our community and the unethical/immoral effort they made to override the democratic rejection of the community they are “looking forward to working with”.

Tuesday the 1st of July we celebrated our ‘restored freedom’.

Some individuals had been yearning to stretch their legs along the council easement behind the McDonald’s outlet, others had been keen to try out the promised ‘ample parking’ that was offered by McDonald’s to placate the residents of Tecoma.

At approximately 6pm we united and took a candle lit stroll through the council easement that has been restricted to so many of our campaigners for the past year.

Our delightful ‘No Maccas Flashmob’ then performed a heartfelt rendition of ‘Do you hear the people sing’ for franchisee James Currie who was in store but hiding from the community.

With many more ‘anniversaries’ to come we vow to continue to show McDonald’s that this communities taste remains committed to ETHICS, MORALS & DEMOCRACY.

Thankyou to the delightful John Weeks for once again capturing Tecoma’s journey.

http://www.spectrumfmradio.org/reclaimtecomafrommcdonalds35.html

Tuesday (July 1st) marks a pretty important day for Tecoma. Firstly the Supreme Court Injunctions that McDonald’s had served on many in our community will expire, meaning freedom of speech for all of us is returned. It’s also 12 months to the day that McDonald’s commenced an attempt to demolish an historic building to make way for their unwanted enterprise. For a great deal of time our brave community held them off and along the way we came up with some creative and clever signs/images to support our just cause. Please find below a “Buzzfeed” of 25 of those signs. If you can’t join us in Tecoma on Tuesday, then share this feed and show the world we remain “The little town that roared”

http://www.buzzfeed.com/burgeroff/25-clever-protest-signs-and-images-showing-a-commu-t739