NSW police powers at APEC

[jango]

There is a lot of debate about the powers given to the police for the APEC meeting in sydney this week. What are your feeling about the powers that they now have until the end of the APEC.

Also how will they be working with the ADF to protect the skys and harbour of sydney?

[BillySing]

I ain't a damn hippie protester, So I'm not worried. If the silly unwashed buggers want to cause trouble, I say about time the cops were allowed to deal with them in a more forceful (and highly amusing) manner.

I can't wait to see some the hippies get blown away by that new anti riot truck on the news!!!

[rifledworld]

yea they got that new water cannon truck.

i got a few mates in my unit who are helping out (RRF), there not getting anyweapons... so that sucks, there basically human fences

[jango]

I saw the water cannon on the news. They use coloured water in europe so if the protester gets away their cloths and skin get coloured so that the police can find them even days after the event. So much for " I wasen't there officer. SWEEEEET !!!!!

[Calanen]

I ain't a damn hippie protester, So I'm not worried. If the silly unwashed buggers want to cause trouble, I say about time the cops were allowed to deal with them in a more forceful (and highly amusing) manner.

I can't wait to see some the hippies get blown away by that new anti riot truck on the news!!!

I think this sums up the view of many of the general public nicely in Australia. The true maxim is not 'I am prepared to trade away my civil liberties in the name of security' it is more accurately 'I am prepared for other people to have traded away their civil liberties in the name of security.'

The whole APEC extravaganza leaves a sour taste in my mouth. They are having all these events, and the public who is paying for it all (in the billions) - are considered the lowly peasants who are not permitted to attend. They are having a fireworks display, and the public have been told to stay at home and not to watch it.

You can be arrested and detained without reason for being in a 'security zone' or 'excluded zone'. That I can understand - but we are not talking about a conference venue, or military base - but whole blocks of the CBD.

Parts of the city are excluded zones now. I heard the Police Minister saying that it was best if all citizens carried a letter from their employer stating that they were in the area of the city that they were found in to justify being there. Jam that. Arrest me if you like, but the office I pay exhorbitent rent for, I am going to go there and work there - and I am not going to write myself a note.

The city foreshore is fenced off with a 2.8 metre high fence. Roads are blocked. Huge concrete barriers are being moved up to use as roadblocks. Speakers have been placed everywhere Mao or Goebbels style to broadcast announcements to the people... sickening.

They are also transporting a number of animals from Taronga Zoo to the Garden Island defence facility, so that the wives of APEC dignatories can pet them away from the horrible unwashed masses.

This really is the beginning of the end for the Howard government, and Sydney is its stronghold.

[Opening Batsman]

I'm quite happy with them, personally. Looking forward to seeing this cannon in action as well. ;)

[digrar]

With no horses to use due to the horse flu, the water cannon will have to do. And at least the hippies can get a bit of a bath this way...

[Kilgor]

I'm quite happy with them, personally. Looking forward to seeing this cannon in action as well. ;)

Same, the great unwashed are going to clense they will never forgot :)


The true maxim is not 'I am prepared to trade away my civil liberties in the name of security' it is more accurately 'I am prepared for other people to have traded away their civil liberties in the name of security.'


The simple fact is many of these protesters are there to simply agitate a physical reponse, then cry police state brutality in front of the cameras.

I am quite happy that temporary powers will be available to the police and security forces. They need to be able to deal with every moonbat, watermelon, crank, hippy who all see Bush, Howard and Globalization as some sort of vicious Satanic evil.

APEC will go on unaffected, but true to form these great revolutionaries will go and trash a Mc Donalds or Starbucks :roll:

[BillySing]

I think this sums up the view of many of the general public nicely in Australia. The true maxim is not 'I am prepared to trade away my civil liberties in the name of security' it is more accurately 'I am prepared for other people to have traded away their civil liberties in the name of security.'

The whole APEC extravaganza leaves a sour taste in my mouth. They are having all these events, and the public who is paying for it all (in the billions) - are considered the lowly peasants who are not permitted to attend. They are having a fireworks display, and the public have been told to stay at home and not to watch it.

You can be arrested and detained without reason for being in a 'security zone' or 'excluded zone'. That I can understand - but we are not talking about a conference venue, or military base - but whole blocks of the CBD.

Parts of the city are excluded zones now. I heard the Police Minister saying that it was best if all citizens carried a letter from their employer stating that they were in the area of the city that they were found in to justify being there. Jam that. Arrest me if you like, but the office I pay exhorbitent rent for, I am going to go there and work there - and I am not going to write myself a note.

The city foreshore is fenced off with a 2.8 metre high fence. Roads are blocked. Huge concrete barriers are being moved up to use as roadblocks. Speakers have been placed everywhere Mao or Goebbels style to broadcast announcements to the people... sickening.

They are also transporting a number of animals from Taronga Zoo to the Garden Island defence facility, so that the wives of APEC dignatories can pet them away from the horrible unwashed masses.

This really is the beginning of the end for the Howard government, and Sydney is its stronghold.

I think you may be reading far too much into this whole thing. Sure it's not an ideal situation, but little johnny will do what he has to so he can make a good impression upon the leaders of the countries attending.

What would your opinion be if none of the security measures weren't installed, and there just so happened to be a horrific attack acted upon us like so many other countries?

I'm sure as hell not having a go at you, but it's a matter of making sure Australia doesn't go down in history as being the country that didn't bother making the correct arrangements and thus getting the president of America killed in something that could've been prevented.

That'll just give ammunition to Bushy's little minions!!

Perhaps it just could be me. I find myself looking out my window as I type this, watching the black cockatoos fly from the gum tree.....Out in the Sticks! It maybe that I might have a far different opinion if I where in Sydney.

[velvet-cream]

+1 on Calanen's post.

They've closed off some of the train stations in the city circle, so I'll have to walk from Wynyard. And I'm going to be in the security zone which mean I will potentially be searched without suspicion. This meeting is very distruptive to Sydneysiders and there are going to be additional hidden costs to private business (on top of what the govt is paying for security etc).

They should've had the summit somewhere else (like Canberra), instead of in the middle of busiest CBD in Australia.

[Calanen]

I think you may be reading far too much into this whole thing. Sure it's not an ideal situation, but little johnny will do what he has to so he can make a good impression upon the leaders of the countries attending.

What would your opinion be if none of the security measures weren't installed, and there just so happened to be a horrific attack acted upon us like so many other countries?


They don't close down NYC when the UN meets. It's a matter of perspective, and overkill.

[cx2115]

What would your opinion be if none of the security measures weren't installed, and there just so happened to be a horrific attack acted upon us like so many other countries?

Hold an election to replace 'em and six months later we can all sing "Here's the new boss, same as the old boss". Hardly irreplaceable. Besides, why the hell did they have it in Sydney? I thought the capital of the country was Canberra and it would've been a damn sight easier on all concerned if it'd been there.

[BillySing]

They don't close down NYC when the UN meets. It's a matter of perspective, and overkill.

That's because we're a backward country whose entire population consists of simpletons who enjoy beer and race kangaroos, as well as hunting crocodiles. p-)

[Kilgor]

They don't close down NYC when the UN meets. It's a matter of perspective, and overkill.

Do they have the same level of protest ?

[mocking_loudly_died]

Hippies need a good beating, set water cannons to kill etc etc.

[maundy]

I like what you wrote Calanen. I wish I had the words you do.

One step closer to a nanny state.

One day the boys from K will say G'day.

[Bushranger]

let the cops lock the city down & have the powers they need, i was working in there on sat & when i came out they had put the fence up already, it didnt bother me. life goes on. If you arent going to cause trouble you want have any problems as for the trains the stations are only closed on Apec weekend not all week. stop with all the whinging & hardn up, you get friday off work. i hope the hippies get smashed.

[Kilgor]

The APEC security fence that stretches through Sydney's CBD is a "wall of shame" and undemocratic, the Communist Party of Australia says.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/sydneys-wall-of-shame/2007/09/03/1188671834659.html

A communist party member crying about the wall being "undemocratic" lol

[Calanen]

Here is a link to the map of where the wall of shame is.

http://www.news.com.au/feature/0,,5013109,00.html


Also the picture from the same article mentioned above:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/sydneys-wall-of-shame/2007/09/03/1188671834659.html


http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/09/03/fence2_wideweb__470x332,0.jpg


Here is a relevant section of the article. The police had to corner german tourists and delete their cameras, because, apparently there is a fear that anarchists might be trying to learn how to defeat the fence. Like say, getting a ladder....Imagine the OPSEC fubar if someone, God forbid, got a photo of the fence....say, like the one in the paper.


But NSW Transport Minister John Watkins said that, while requiring tourists to delete photos of the fence might be "over the top", it is necessary.

He was responding today to reports that three German tourists were asked by police to delete digital photographs of the newly built fence, which stretches five kilometres through Sydney's CBD.

He said the move was part of the efforts to ensure there was no breach during the major protests expected later this week.

"There is some concern among police that some of those protesters who are coming ... will look for weak points in the fence," Mr Watkins told Southern Cross Broadcasting.

"And that one of the things they are doing is a recce of the fence to find where they can attack it.

"There are concerns, perhaps it's a bit over the top, but you can understand the job of NSW Police is to keep us safe and APEC safe."

[rifledworld]

+1 to Calanen, i think his hit the nail on the head...

it is like a police state, they've taken away basic human rights, the verything were overseas preaching about, do it here first then we'll start with the rest of the world...

should have been in Canberra there the real hippiesp-)

[jango]

+1 on Calanen's post.

They've closed off some of the train stations in the city circle, so I'll have to walk from Wynyard. And I'm going to be in the security zone which mean I will potentially be searched without suspicion. This meeting is very distruptive to Sydneysiders and there are going to be additional hidden costs to private business (on top of what the govt is paying for security etc).

They should've had the summit somewhere else (like Canberra), instead of in the middle of busiest CBD in Australia.but sydney look pretty and canberra looks crap and all those pretty firework. Oh yea !!! we're not allow to see the fireworks.

[Calanen]

APEC security fear: Who's got the rocket launchers?

By John Lyons
September 04, 2007 01:00am
Article from: http://www.news.com.au/images/sources/h14_theaustralian.gif

Nine launchers may be in Sydney region
Range of weapons could be 125m
http://network.news.com.au/images/i_enlarge.gif APEC security measures, road closures and more (http://www.news.com.au/feature/0,,5013109,00.html)
WHEN George W. Bush flies into Sydney tonight, one very awkward question will be in the minds of Australian security staff: where are the rocket launchers?

The failure to be able to answer that question comes at the end of one of the most extraordinary searches seen in this country - involving, at different times, up to 30 officers from ASIO, the Australian Federal Police and NSW Police.

APEC has always been a deadline to find the weapons - people don't take rocket launchers to hold up the corner store so whoever knows where they are is almost certainly prepared to use them to cause major damage.

The fact that there are nine rocket launchers believed to be in the vicinity of Sydney as a meeting of world leaders begins has meant in recent months this operation has become one of the highest priorities of ASIO.

It is one of the reasons Australian and US security advisers are insistent that protesters will be at least 300m from the President at all times.

Theoretically, the launchers can fire from that distance but an amateur would generally be able to fire them only 125m.

The most worrying aspect of the weapons is that they are concealable - when folded, they are about 67cm, which means they can fit into a backpack. They can be painted any colour to blend with carry bags.

The M-72 launchers are designed to carry warheads that can cut through metal with a small hole then explode. The warheads are designed for a "blast effect". They are often used in warfare to attack bunkers, as they cause maximum damage.

The nine rocket launchers were in a batch of 10 allegedly stolen from a private storage facility at Orchard Hills in Sydney's west in 2002. Security agencies believe they were then placed in PVC piping and buried in the national park between Sydney and Wollongong.

Various parks around Sydney have been excavated in the search for the rockets.

This has led to some remarkable scenes: any bushwalkers who came across the search would have witnessed night-time scenes resembling a movie set. They would have confronted ASIO and AFP officers watching the rescue squad of the NSW Police using generators, lighting equipment and metal detectors.

And as no outside labour was used because of the sensitivity of the operation, they would have seen police officers digging with shovels.

Even a specialist dog squad - the Firearms and Explosion Detection Dogs - has been brought into the forests in the hope of smelling remnants of the rocket launchers. But the PVC piping has probably ensured the launchers are giving off no smell and are protected from soil and water.

The saga has shown a new and disturbing phenomenon - a blurring of the line between organised crime and religious terrorism. It began in 2002 when 10 rocket launchers were stolen from an army base near Sydney (one has been found).

The investigation found that after the launchers were stolen, they were sold to criminals associated with bikies.

They were then sold to an organised crime gang run by Lebanese Australians, which sold them to Lebanese Australian Islamic fundamentalists.

Authorities fear such a crime group could be enlisted to supply weapons to would-be terrorists on a regular basis.

"On this occasion, everyone got what they wanted," said a source involved in the investigation. "The crims got money and the fanatics got weapons."

The pressure to find the weapons has been extraordinary - the special ASIO/AFP/NSW Police team has frequently been asked about their success. Their masters have not been happy.

Army ammunitions technician officer Shane Malcolm Della-Vedova, 46, of Wattle Grove, near Holsworthy Barracks in Sydney, and former soldier Dean Steven Taylor, 39, of Mount Annan, in southwest Sydney, were charged with offences relating to the theft.

The two were arrested in April this year after simultaneous raids on their homes. Police alleged Della-Vedova sold one of the rocket launchers in 2003 through a member of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang. The weapon was then allegedly passed on to Sydney gun dealer Taha Abdul Rahman, of Casula.

One month later, Della-Vedova allegedly sold the remaining rockets to Rahman, later charged for his role in the deal. He allegedly sold them to Sydney underworld figure Adnan Darwiche, who passed them on to terror suspect Mohammad Elomar.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22357222-5013109,00.html

[SOG]

With no horses to use due to the horse flu, the water cannon will have to do. And at least the hippies can get a bit of a bath this way...

hahah they will be scattering like cats!


Hippies need a good beating, set water cannons to kill etc etc.

set them to skin! damn that would burn!

filthy hippies......

[digrar]

I've lost a bit of skin to a high pressure water hose before. Painful, very painful.

[tboy01]

Pfffftt. Sucks to be you guys. I have no sympathy, that is what you get for living in that sh*thole called Sydneyp-)

[Calanen]

Pfffftt. Sucks to be you guys. I have no sympathy, that is what you get for living in that sh*thole called Sydneyp-)

http://www.aerialphotographynational.com.au/cms/gallery/images/Sydney-Harbour-3448-1.jpg


Oh yeah, this sh*thole...........

[Opening Batsman]

http://www.aerialphotographynational.com.au/cms/gallery/images/Sydney-Harbour-3448-1.jpg


Oh yeah, this sh*thole...........

Yep, that's the one!

[rifledworld]

you guys are just jealous we get BUSH and yous' don'tp-)

[Litti]

Those protestors need to respond in kind. Their own elite squadron from Denmark should be ready for another kick off.

Then we could really enjoy some fireworks. p-)

ps. I was in one of those protests during my high-school time in Brussels about 8 years ago, just for laughs. Water cannons were a bitch.

[Violet Fashion by Mindy]

I do not condone violent protest. But I fully support peaceful protest that will shut down Sydney.

**** globalisation.

[Calanen]

But I fully support peaceful protest that will shut down Sydney.

Peaceful protests wont shut the city down. A few clicks of fencing over main roads will....

[Violet Fashion by Mindy]

I'm laid up anyway with a busted hand so I don't leave the house

[velvet-cream]

Did anyone watch SBS tonight? They were showing video of some of the security in Sydney. Lots of Accuracy International sniper rifles on the roof of buildings, including a sniper team on the top of the sail of the Opera house.

http://www.worldnewsaustralia.com.au/gallery.php?gallID=95
EDIT: Here are a couple of photos from the SBS website. Pity they didn't have an image of the snipers on top of the opera house.

Note, for those mods who are concerned about opsec of the above photos. SBS is a federal government funded broadcaster, and all this has been broadcast throughout Australia.

[BiZ]

Lots of Accuracy International sniper rifles on the roof of buildings, including a sniper team on the top of the sail of the Opera house.


Hope you spotted the Blaser R93's on show as well... p-)

[Violet Fashion by Mindy]

NSW cops are pussies even with these powers

[Opening Batsman]

This has been pretty disappointing so far. Where are the bloody riots? Weak arse hippies...

[Calanen]

Yeah I just walked through the protest to get to my office - and there were perhaps 5000 protestors. Not that many really. Police using armoured buses Mad Max II style (thats Road Warrior II for you US folks) as roadblocks.

[velvet-cream]

This has been pretty disappointing so far. Where are the bloody riots? Weak arse hippies...

They get more public support if they don't go violent. And they know that.

[LazerLordz]

Well, now you chaps Down Under can sympathise with us Singaporeans when the IMF-World Bank came for their annual meeting last year and my govt paid more than $100Million to stage this circus.

Apparently some hacks in our govt must have probably inspired some of your hacks to build that ghastly fencing that really PO-ed everyone working within it.

[Annihilator9112]

offtopic but did anyone see some guy squeeze catchup at bush supporter fans??
There are also 2 groups, bush haters and bush supporters and them 2 are angry at each other lol. was so funny.

[Herrmannek]

**** globalisation.

Bold statement for a guy who talks everyday over internet with people from all around the world and seems to like it a lot :)

[velvet-cream]

offtopic but did anyone see some guy squeeze catchup at bush supporter fans??
There are also 2 groups, bush haters and bush supporters and them 2 are angry at each other lol. was so funny.

I guess you can divide it into two camps... except bush haters probably outnumber bush supporters 100 to 1.

[gonz_au]

So the NSW police have a large water canon now, does it also look like they have a LRAD mounted between the cabin and water tank?

http://www.craighall.info/gallery/d/19437-1/LRAD.jpg

[BiZ]

The PORS water cannon...which has been around for some 12 months now (despite the media hoopla surrounding it's showcasing prior to APEC).

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/8606/134569652690720483eeoom6.th.jpg (http://img380.imageshack.us/my.php?image=134569652690720483eeoom6.jpg)

The oh-so-scary bus blockage...

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/6831/13461065447020dba269oar2.th.jpg (http://img374.imageshack.us/my.php?image=13461065447020dba269oar2.jpg)

"Watching you watching me" TOU style...

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/5977/1333143178a80360428fofr0.th.jpg (http://img380.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1333143178a80360428fofr0.jpg)

[rifledworld]

i hated some of the things the cops did on this day.

they shouldnt stop someone from burning a flag, if they want to burn the flag. btw burning a flag in Aust. is not illegal even if its an ozzie one, duno what the fuss is about burning a yankee one.

[gonz_au]

duno what the fuss is about...


Well, you're not allowed a campfire in Hyde Park - same rule applies to burning anything really...

[rifledworld]

Well, you're not allowed a campfire in Hyde Park - same rule applies to burning anything really...
what about on the street?p-)

plus i watched on the news, they tackled one of the flagburners (the one in hyde park) before he could light it. wouldnt that be illegal(tackling them) on the polices point of view because they hadnt dont anything wrong yet?

[gonz_au]

what about on the street?p-)

plus i watched on the news, they tackled one of the flagburners (the one in hyde park) before he could light it. wouldnt that be illegal(tackling them) on the polices point of view because they hadnt dont anything wrong yet?


He was in the act of breaking the law. Hippy got a beatdown :bash: woot

[BiZ]

what about on the street?p-)

plus i watched on the news, they tackled one of the flagburners (the one in hyde park) before he could light it. wouldnt that be illegal(tackling them) on the polices point of view because they hadnt dont anything wrong yet?

Kind of like not stopping someone before they shoot/stab someone else eh? ...Cause they haven't done anything wrong yet... :roll:


Idiot....

As for the flag burning...while the act of burning a flag itself isn't a specific offence there's a heap of others you could be swung for...offensive conduct comes to mind...or the old chestnut of breach of the peace etc...