Olympics organisers pin hopes on torch relay

“There is a desire for the Olympic Games to be an opportunity for unity to be displayed in Australia so I expect ambition will override any desire to be disruptive,” she said.

Nova Peris-Kneebone, an Aboriginal athlete who won Olympic gold for field hockey in Atlanta, will be the first of 10,000 torch bearers to carry the flame on the final leg of the relay, which culminates with the September 15 opening ceremony at Sydney’s Stadium Australia.

“We’re not worried about protests. Australia is a democratic country, people have the right to peacefully protest,” said Booth. “Our concern would be that the spirit and the operational practicality of the relay is not compromised.

“The Olympic flame was of enormous symbolic value and that’s why I think its integrity will be respected by all parties.”

Aboriginal activist Charles Perkins threatened violent protests during the Olympics in response to an Australian Government report which denied authorities had snatched a generation of indigenous children from their parents over several decades.

The Government report, leaked to the media over the weekend, refused to acknowledge the term “Stolen Generation” and sparke outrage among Aboriginal people.

Torch relay General Manager Di Henry said organisers had no immediate plans to upgrade security in the wake of the threats of protests.

TRAIN AND RAIL DRIVERS LODGE PAY DEMANDS: Sydney’s 10,000 train and bus drivers will go on strike during the Olympics unless the New South Wales State Government approves a special pay claim, the Rail Tram and Bus Union said, on Tuesday.

Union spokeswoman Pat Ryan lodged with Government transport authorities a pay claim demanding a bonus of about 180 US dollars for each week of the Olympics plus extra vacation time as a payoff for increased workloads during the September 15 – October 1 Games.

Ryan said if reports about the strain on Atlanta’s transport system during the 1996 Olympics were accurate, Sydney transport workers were facing huge workloads.

“We’re expecting our members to cope with a 20-hour schedule for every day of the Games,” Ryan told the Australian Associated Press. “Even when the Games finish, our members have to take home the cleaners and volunteers and bring in the early shift the next day.”

The Union has given the state transport authorities an April 30 deadline to meet its demands.

The Olympics Roads and Transport Authority said it was expecting 32 million rail passengers over 17 days during the Games on a rail system which usually carries 12 million people over a 21-day period.

ORTA expected daily usage levels to peak at about 2.1 million people on the busiest days.

The Olympic Commerce Center said 3,800 buses would be incorporated into the transit network during the Games, with 1,000 buses running 24-hour services.