So, how could anyone not living under a rock have missed APEC? Coming from Sydney it was reasonably noticeable - we're talking a big fence around the Opera House, major disruptions in traffic and general work and life for any of the thousands of people working in the middle of the city, snipers on the rooftops...pretty extreme. Especially seeing as all reports about APEC in other countries represent it as being a small-fuss-out-of-the-way type of event.
Anyway, after much hassle and general ridiculousness a protest was organised in Sydney on the APEC long weekend (yep, we even got an extra day off for it!). Of course it couldn't go anywhere near where the conference itself was being held, but that didn't stop an unbelievable police presence!!! We had never seen anything like it!
Cam and I, his sisters, and a couple of friends attended this most peaceful of protests and marched through the city, dancing past police buses and many intimidating police. Not that we were blaming the individual officers et al, but whoever organised their presence was not only trying to be intimidating, but also provocative. It was absolutely bizarre.
It was great to see so many people there, as well as why they were there. Not many people were protesting against APEC per say, but rather about the issues that we felt weren't being addressed by the world leaders - mainly Climate Change and the Iraq War. There were also people there just because they had been told they weren't allowed - protesting for general civil rights and liberties.
Anyway, we were all happy that we went, and that we made our cool t-shirts with the Climate Change messages "Even Putin signed Kyoto - how embarrasing!" and "Howard targeting citizens, not climate change". Despite the scare tactics to try and prevent people from peacefully demonstrating how they feel, there was a fairly good turn out from all walks of life. Let's hope people don't forget how important the freedom to peacefully protest is!
