were held every evening at 6pm, various working group meetings were held most days. A logistics working group assisted with establishing infrastructure and incoming donations of materials. Most donations were of food and the kitchen was well stocked with several weeks worth of food. Many political discussions were had at the square during the encampment and diverse interactions between people at the encampment and the media. The existence of the encampment jammed the commercial media discourse with discussions about political corruption, corporate greed, economic corruption, the failures of representative democracy, etc., and drew attention to events elsewhere in the world during the Arab Spring, European anti-austerity protests and the Occupy movement globally. Many celebrities visited the encampment and sporadic live streams were run. The "eviction" On the morning of 21 October 2011, one week into the occupation, the City of Melbourne issued a notice to comply with local council bylaws, requesting that protesters remove themselves and their belongings from City Square by 9 am, as council bylaws did not permit camping and "hanging or placing objects and things on or over the city square". Protesters resolved to continue to encampment stating on their website "we remain committed to peacefully occupying public space and intend to remain". Without consulting councillors, the City of Melbourne CEO sought the assistance of Victoria Police to forcibly remove protesters from City Square. Shortly after 9 am, 300-500 protesters remained in the square. The police operation injured 43 people and 95 were detained temporarily, later released without charge. The resulting milieu drew thousands into the city centre where multiple sit-ins blocked intersections and roads in the city. After 11 hours of rolling sit-ins and defence against police attacks, a crowd of over 1,000 sought refuge in Victorian Trades Hall where an assembly was held. Tram, bus and car traffic in the city centre was significantly disrupted the entire day. In the global context, this was one of the first encampments to be attacked and forcibly removed, thus the shock of the police action was relatively new and surprising. Adam Bandt, the Member of the Australian Parliament for Melbourne, criticized the decision to remove protesters, saying "Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu and Lord Mayor Robert Doyle have made a huge blunder by sending in the police, turning a week-long non-violent protest into a site of confrontation". Greens councilor Cathy Oke also criticized Melbourne City Council's actions stating "I