Australian town tells McDonald's to burger off

posted on 8th October 2013

As Grey Lynn residents campaign against the opening of a Bunnings, an Australian township has taken its fight to stop a  McDonald's franchisee opening in their town to new levels. Although the local council in Tecoma rejected the original proposal by a vote of 8-0, the decision was overturned on appeal to a higher tribunal. Protestors have placed 200 gnomes (a symbol of the town) on the steps of McDonald's headquarters in Melbourne and taken out an advert in the Chicago Tribune.

More than 90,000 people have signed a petition calling on the burger giant to back off; celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has tweeted support for Tecoma to his 3.4 million followers; high-powered lawyers have volunteered their services to defend protestors charged with offences related to the disruption of the development; while McDonald's has been portrayed as a corporate bully.

In Tecoma, members of the No McDonald's protest group and security guards, who are washboards for their anger, keep uneasy company. Protest slogans are scrawled on the fences of the intended construction site: "This is our home", "Not in our community", "We will never give up", "Leave our hills alone", "Not welcome", "Child predators." Writs are also pasted to the fences naming eight people who are being sued by McDonald's for damages caused by disruption to the development, including loss of profits. In Tecoma, they are referred to, in the language of martyrs, as the Tecoma Eight.

Read more at http://www.smh.com.au/natio...

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