Brisbane will host the G20 summit in November 2014, costing an estimated $370 million.
In what has been described as the “biggest peacetime security operation in Australian history”, 1,500 “security specialists” including snipers and 5,000 police from across Australia and New Zealand will be deployed to maintain “law and order” within the Brisbane City area.
The G20 Bill 2013 is now before the Queensland parliament. It contains a vast array of expanded police powers and suspends a number of civil rights.
For the duration of the conference, the Brisbane CBD and neighbouring suburbs will be in lockdown. Police will have the power to stop and search anyone.
If suspected by police to be carrying a “prohibited item”, one can be further subjected to a humiliating strip search.
Anyone who happens to be in the declared zone carrying a banner larger than 1m x 2m, or banner poles, even laser pointers or kites, may be slapped with a $5,500 fine and removed from the area.
There will be an “excluded persons” blacklist drawn up by the police. There are no criteria listed as to how one is placed on this list, no requirement of being notified that one is on the list, and once on the list, an excluded person can be denied access to over 11 square kilometres of Brisbane or fined $5,500 and face arrest.
A presumption against bail will operate so that those arrested will be held in custody and detained for minor offences for the entire duration of the G20 Summit – more than three days.
The magistrates’ court will be open for 24 hours each day during the conference – yet there will be no opportunity to appeal any conviction.
The majority of provisions within the bill are stipulated to end on the culmination of the G20, but some will remain in place until November 2015. Similar laws passed for the Toronto G20 of 2010 are yet to be removed from the books.
These laws have nothing to do with stopping “terrorism”, as the Newman government claims. They are an attempt to intimidate, criminalise protest and return Queensland to the repressive Joh Bjelke-Petersen era.
Deputy police commissioner Ross Barnett says that this “is a small price to pay for the opportunity that we’ve been given to host this world class event”.
