Simple Simon Met A P'liceman, Pulling Down a Flag

Guess who pulled down the US Consulate's flag during an anti Israeli demo in Auckland yesterday?

Fittingly for a halfwit, Simon (Bobo) Oosterman only pulled the flag down to half mast, but managed to get himself arrested while allegedly fleeing from police custody after the event.

Oosterman is the protestor's protestor and his name pops up with amazing regularity.

According to his Wikipedia entry He is best known for coordinating the Unite union campaign Supersizemypay.com which targeted the fast food industry and led to (among other results) the worlds first Starbucks strike, and for his involvement in the World Naked Bike Ride

In a NBR article on 29 May 2006, Unite Union President Matt McCarten stated that Oosterman left Unite after "a disagreement over tactics" but also recorded Oosterman as saying that his contract had ended. He now works as a media liaison for the National Distribution Union.He was a member of the short-lived Black Cat Anarchist-Communist Collective.

In 2003 Oosterman "occupied" the pavement in front of the Auckland US consulate for 120 hours in protest against the US led war in Iraq.

In August 2003 as a part of an anti-vivisection demonstration in Christchurch he jumped under a bus that was carrying vivisectors from the ANZCART and ANSLAS conferences.

Starting on the 28 August 2003, Oosterman joined the 700km long Seed Carriers hikoi from Cape Reinga to Taupo in protest against the lifting of New Zealand's genetic engineering moratorium.

In 2005 Oosterman was arrested at the start of the Auckland World Naked Bike Ride for refusing to put on underwear. In court he pleaded not guilty to the charge of indecent exposure, although he was naked not only at the time he was arrested, but during his court appearance. The charges were later dropped due to the Police's lack of evidence.


On the 22 March 2005, after occupying an ANZ bank and an intersection with 100 other anti-war protesters, he was arrested for obstructing a footpath with three other activists who were arrested for similar charges.

In May 2006 he filed papers at the Auckland district court seeking NZ$50,000 in damages from the New Zealand police after being pepper sprayed at a January 2005 protest against an alleged genetic engineering experiment outside the Forest Research Institute in Rotorua.

Oosterman has recently became active in the Campaign against the Taser because "Police have proven themselves too irresponsible with their use of pepper spray and should not be given a more deadly weapon like the Taser. The 50,000 volt Taser stun gun has killed people overseas even when used following correct police procedures and should not be introduced into New Zealand."

Oosterman is also invoved with John Minto and Mike Treen's Global Peace and Justice Auckland.

In October 2005 he spoke on trade union work to Socialist Workers "Marxism 2005" conference in Auckland.

Simon Oosterman's brother Jon has been very active in the Save Happy Valley campaign on the West Coast, where it is far too cold to walk around naked.