Protesters ambush Bill Clinton during address to Melbourne AIDS conference as he remembers MH17 victims

AIDS activists fighting for a Robin Hoo d tax disrupt Bill Clinton address

Mr Clinton spoke at the 2014 International AIDS Conference in Melbourne

The former US president also paid tribute to MH17 crash victims



Protesters have interrupted Bill Clinton’s address to an AIDS Conference in Melbourne, during which he honoured victims of the MH17 crash.



The demonstrators were AIDS activists arguing for a so-called Robin Hood tax on financial transactions to fund the fight against HIV and AIDS.



As Mr Clinton began his speech a group of people with signs and placards started chanting: 'Clinton end AIDS with a Robin Hood tax.'

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Protesters hold up their banners as former US President Bill Clinton commences his speech at the 2014 International AIDS Conference, in Melbourne After a number of minutes, Mr Clinton spoke over the chants asking: 'Have you got the message?'

'Give them a hand and ask them to let the rest of us talk,' he continued. Some labelled the protest poorly-timed in the wake of the MH17 disaster, which Mr Clinton was about to speak about before he was cut off. 'Bill Clinton's speech to AIDS conference in Melb interrupted by protestors. In wake of MH17 disaster, tacky and embarrassing,' ‏@nathan28423118 wrote on Twitter. Sophie Baillon, spokeswoman for protest organisers Coalition PLUS, defended their decision to interrupt Mr Clinton. RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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Next 'There is a house there with belongings in it … but really... Where are all the bodies? Governor-General to travel to... Share this article Share 'I would say that we have honoured and made tribute to the six participants of the conference who sadly died in the airplane - they were also fighting every day to get more people being cured and this is also their legacy that we are transmitting,' Ms Baillon told Daily Mail Australia. 'We can't just have a vigil and stay silent we also need to express out viewpoints and keep on fighting it can't just stop it has to go on.' Global AIDS organisation Coaltion PLUS, based in Paris, France, is fighting for a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), also known as the Robin Hood tax, to be implemented across the European Union. Mr Clinton paid tribute to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's efforts to get the UN Security Council to agree on a resolution on the MH17 disaster

The protesters held up placards in support of a so-called Robin Hood tax The FTT would place a levy of less than 0.1 per cent on financial transactions. 'It could raise up to $US35 billion dollars, and with at least 10 per cent of this amount we could definitely within 30 years end the transmission of the epidemic,' Ms Baillon said. After the protesters quietened down Clinton paid tribute to MH17 victims, and specifically the six AIDS conference delegates who died on board.

'There's been a lot of understandable honour paid to the colleagues we lost in the airplane crash and I would like to begin by trying to put their lives in the context of this work and the larger struggle abroad in the worlds of AIDS,' he said. 'The loss of our colleagues and more than 290 others in what appears to have been a deliberate act is a stark reflection on the negative forces of our interdependence.' Mr Clinton also paid tribute to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's efforts to get the UN Security Council to agree on a resolution on the MH17 disaster. Ms Bishop has been widely applauded for her effort in securing the resolution, which also had the support of Russia.



Clinton paid tribute to MH17 victims, specifically the six AIDS conference delegates who died on board

'I was very proud yesterday to be in this country when the Australian foreign minister spoke at the UN,' Mr Clinton said.



Mr Clinton said he had also been 'overwhelmed' by the comments of the Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans, whose country lost almost 200 people on the downed Malaysia Airlines flight.



'He took my breath away when he speculated what the last moments of those people must have been like,' Mr Clinton said.



'I hope that all of our countries who value freedom and honour will look at the statement ... before they give in to the temptation to say: "Well, maybe we should weaken our resolve to take a strong stand because after all they didn't mean to shoot this plane down".'



International AIDS Conference spokeswoman Lucy Stackpool-Moore said Mr Clinton's security was made aware of the protest ahead of his speech.

'An engagement with activism is a key part of the conference, it's part of the spirit of the conference and the open dialogue,' Ms Stackpool-Moore told Daily Mail Australia.