Australian police lock down Melbourne for G20 meet

Metal barriers erected outside G20 venue

November 16, 2006 10:00am

METAL barricades to separate protesters from police have been erected around the venue for this weekend's G20 summit in Melbourne.

Up to 10,000 protesters are expected at a rally on Saturday at the Grand Hyatt hotel where finance ministers and central bank governors from 19 countries plus the European Union will be meeting.

Last night police installed the barriers - a series of metal "cages" about 2m long and more than 1m high - on roads around the hotel.

Traffic is being diverted.

A police spokeswoman said the barriers were to separate police and protesters and it was the first time they had been used in Australia.

While protesters could probably jump over them, police would be ready to act, she said.

Energy chiefs sneak into G20
David Uren and Natasha Robinson
November 16, 2006

CHIEF executives from the world's most powerful oil and mining companies are flying to Melbourne to help Peter Costello persuade the G20 nations to liberalise trade and investment in the resources industry.

A new organisation, the Energy and Minerals Business Council, will hold its inaugural meeting on Saturday at the same hotel, the Grand Hyatt, as the G20 summit.

It is expected the chief executives will address the gathering of world financial leaders.

The organisation has been formed by Australia's two resource giants, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, to support the Treasurer's ambition to get the barriers to free markets in the energy and resource industry on to the agenda of the G20 summit.

The group's existence has been kept secret so it does not become a focus for protest. This is the first time a business group has had access to the G20.

As Mr Costello urged protesters to refrain from violence, an underground group of activists emerged from a secret conference in Melbourne yesterday to promise a day of corporate confrontation tomorrow in which office buildings in the CBD will be targeted by small groups of guerilla-style protesters, who will aim to occupy buildings.

The A Space Outside group is being monitored by police, and Premier Steve Bracks has compared the security for the summit with that surrounding the Commonwealth Games in March.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20765701-601,00.html

Photo: Protesters and police clash at the World Economic Forum at Crown Casino in 2000.


Dan Harrison
November 16, 2006 - 2:11PM

Police will use new tactics at this weekend's G20 summit to prevent a repeat of the violent scenes which marred the World Economic Forum meeting six years ago.

Assistant Commissioner Gary Jamieson said the fresh approach included deploying police officers within crowds of protesters to liaise between demonstrators and police, and erecting lower barriers which have proven effective at similar events overseas.

"We don't want a repeat of what happened at the World Economic Forum," Mr Jamieson said.

Up to 10,000 demonstrators are expected to converge on the city centre to protest outside the weekend's meeting at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, which will be attended by more than 200 delegates from the 19 countries plus the European Union, and more than 200 journalists.

"It's certainly a big operation for Victoria Police. These sorts of things don't come around very often," he said.

Overnight, chest-high metal barriers were erected around the forum's venue.

Mr Jamieson said this was the first time such barriers, which are intended to reduce confrontation between police and protesters, had been used in Australia.

"It's in keeping with the ambience of the area ... I'm sure the delegates and all the international press coming to Melbourne don't want to see a fortress in the centre of the city," he said.

Another first will be the use of crowd safety officers, who are police members stationed in the crowd to warn protesters of police intentions.