Protesters carrying banners have disrupted Bill Clinton’s speech moments after he began speaking at an AIDS conference in Melbourne on Wednesday.
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The protesters disrupted the former US president's speech with the chant: "Clinton end AIDS with the Robin Hood tax".
The tax's advocates are pushing for a levy of US50 cents on every $US100 of stock trades.
Supporters believe the tax would discourage financial market speculation and trading, while the funds raised could be put toward social purposes - specifically, in this protest, the fight against HIV/AIDS.
An event promoting the Robin Hood tax had been organised around the AIDS conference by a Spanish health rights foundation, Salud por Derecho, and a French organisation, Coalition PLUS.
Clinton remained calm under fire, asking the audience "have you got the message?" and then telling them to "give [the protesters] a hand and ask them to let the rest of us talk".
At least one tweet from Coalition PLUS's official account carries an image of a placard being held up to call for a Robin Hood Tax, with the official conference hashtag #AIDS2014.
#FTT à Melbourne pour #AIDS2014. La #TTF doit servir à la lutte contre le #sida et à la solidarité internationale pic.twitter.com/IR6GmGmLeo — Coalition PLUS (@CoalitionPLUS) July 22, 2014
#AIDS2014 #AIDS activists demand Robin Hood tax at Bill Clinton talk pic.twitter.com/rQT2jxTVbI — HIVandHepatitis.com (@HIVandHepatitis) July 23, 2014
Protesters disrupt Bill Clinton speech at #AIDS2014 conf in Melbourne pic.twitter.com/ftcMeUPJ1V — Dean Felton (@DeanFelton7) July 23, 2014
- with Caroline Zielinski
