September 12, 2007
APEC 2007
The virtually deserted central business district of a city of millions was bound to be juicy source material for a photographer. So I went down there. APEC saw parts of Sydney’s CBD fenced off & locked down for nearly a week.
Fences & empty streets
Show of defiance
Over 5,000 people gathered for what must have been one of the shortest routes in rally history: three blocks from Town Hall to Hyde Park (the route was petitioned by police in the courts). Organisers called the turnout a success despite the fact that forecasted showers probably kept a lot of people away while others would have felt intimidated by police statements to the media: “expect trouble.”
The scene in the street was so Australian: teachers, Rabbitohs, wharfies, university students, families with strollers and guys from the fire brigade marching in thongs. Kids with fuzzy beards shared the road with ancient aristocrats of the left who have been at this work since the 1960s.
No sign of shortage here.
The crowd also included an individual who had left his thinking cap at home: I stood rather close to the birdbrain alleged to have thrown darts at police officers. While I did not actually see him do it he sure seemed mighty guilty after he was caught out by one of the protesters: cowering and trying to hide he had a guilty expression of “darn, what did I just do” written all over his face. Not long afterwards he was arrested (the crowd seemed not all that keen on granting him amnesty by letting him hide among the multitude).
Show of force
Yes, security was tight: 3,500 NSW police, 500 federal police and 1,500 Australian Defense Force personnel. Dogs, guns, snipers and choppers were never far from my eyes.
My own experiences with police officers during APEC were a bit of a mixed bag. Most seemed friendly and courteous. They had a job to do, and seemed successful at it. Others were downright rude and aggressive. Like the officer directing me not to take pictures of the fence. Let’s call him Officer Joe. Why would Joe “suggest” such a thing?
Joe, I know it’s awfully exciting to have all these big noses come your way, but… don’t forget you are there to protect and serve. Let’s not have such an annoying concept as the law get in the way of your directions, shall we? I do, after all, have the right to take photographs—even of security fences.
Cops & cameras
At the tail-end of the rally security chiefs took what seems a downright bad decision: arrest those responsible for organising the rally. Why was that? The event was over—people were leaving. On top of that, the force used to arrest these people seemed excessive.
Sydney Declaration
The so-called Sydney Declaration, a supposedly green document aiming to curb greenhouse gas emissions, seems worth little more than the paper it is written on. I hope that the future will prove me wrong, but for the time being I remain skeptical.
The “Sydney Declaration” does not set an overall target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, but it does commit APEC members to trying to improve energy efficiency by at least 25 per cent by 2030.
How does that work? It resembles little more than New Year Resolutions. And we all know what happens to them.