The Walled City

"God respects me when I work, but he loves me when I sing."
Thai Proverb.


This morning the building for a 2.8 metre high five kilometre long wall through the centre of Sydney to cut off the great unwashed from APEC begins. It is astonishing to think that a wall is being constructed in the middle of our city. I reckon it's just amazing; and the visual impact should be very powerful. The Walled City. Twenty two world leaders in town; in the city that we live in and drudge in; life for a lot of people sitting in the city's ridiculous traffic for hours to and from work everyday, drowning in debt and living on credit, these days when the mainstream narratives bear no relationship to life as it is lived, in the burbs and snail trails of a ground down place.

The so-called booming economy of which the government is so proud, and so repeatedly reminds us, feels more like every last available dollar has been hoovered off the populace. The top ten; or is it five; per cent are booming alright; and the rest of us pay tax at every turn. That's the gripe; in a ground down place not nearly as vibrant, as productive, as colourful and intense as it should be. Ground down is bloody right; bleached. But none of this will be seen by the glittering lights that will pass through this at times most beautiful city; windy on occassion, the shock of fresh hair, the striking scenes across the Harbour.

Giant tourist boats mix with the public ferries; and even in my lifetime it has changed enormously. From a so-called "working port", that oft-repeated phrase which appealed to the romantic streak of the city's journalists, usually after the event; when the demise of another dock side or water-based industry briefly made the news. All the container shipping has gone south to Port Botany. The escalating price of foreshore land washed away thousand of boatsheds and little working enterprises; repairs, sails, all sorts, blokes in wooden sheds surrounded by tools who either clearly knew what they were doing or were in their sheds happily escaping the world out there, elsewhere.

The thousands of delegates will see a beautiful harbour; swank restaurants, smart hotels; the city's best features. On the other side of the wall; we wait. Most everyone in authority is expecting some sort of trouble with demonstrators; and I'm alone in doubting whether the locals will put up that good a show. Perhaps its the imports that will create the riot scenes; anarchist groups. No body knows quite what is going to happen. Next Friday has been declared a Public Holiday. One of the last estimates for the cost was $340 million. Howard will parade on the world stage, and the grime of local politics; and how grimy it has been; will dissolve. Each day forward is a step into the unknown. The waiting has begun.

THE BIGGER STORY:


The steel and concrete security fence springing up in parts of central Sydney is proof that APEC has well and truly arrived.

Construction of the 5km fence encompassing the restricted area around the northern part of the CBD, the city's main financial hub, as well as the iconic Sydney Opera House and the picturesque Royal Botanic Gardens begins on Saturday.

Deputy Premier John Watkins said from now on the public will start to see real and significant changes to the city because of APEC.

"The construction of the fence will begin around Circular Quay and this will have a knock-on effect throughout the northern part of the city," he said.
AAP

GOOGLE NEWS:

Sydney's Apec meet struggles for agenda, fashion By SID ASTBURY
Bangkok Post, Thailand - 6 hours ago
Apec has to struggle for air against groupings put together on a better basis than just the geography of being on the Pacific Rim. ...
Climate change to top agenda at APEC BusinessWeek
Outlook gloomy at Apec summit New Zealand Herald
APEC region reaps benefits from freer trade: Australia AFP
Voice of America - Bloomberg
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PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung)
Climate change breakthroughs unlikely at APEC, but meeting could ...
International Herald Tribune, France - 1 hour ago
But any consensus reached in Sydney by APEC's 21 members — which together use about 60 percent of global energy and include six of the top 10 carbon ...
Harper to seek breakthrough on climate change when APEC leaders meet Canada.com
Disparate gathering not a united front The Australian
Malaysia criticises APEC climate change agenda Reuters
ABC Online - The Canadian Press
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Ninemsn
Howard Bets on Climate at APEC to Aid His Re-election (Update1)
Bloomberg - 30 Aug 2007
Howard will push his fellow APEC leaders, including US President George W. Bush, to sign an agreement to reduce energy intensity by 25 percent by 2030, ...
On the world stage The Age
Rudd Bushwhacked by 'man of steel' remark The Age
Bush warning for Rudd on troops NEWS.com.au
The West Australian - Houston Chronicle
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Great wall of Sydney springs up for APEC
The Age, Australia - 4 hours ago
The steel and concrete security fence springing up in parts of central Sydney is proof that APEC has well and truly arrived. Construction of the 5km fence ...
Sorry for the trouble I cause, says Bush Sydney Morning Herald
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Guarantees sought from PM on APEC shirts
The Age, Australia - 16 hours ago
A lobby group wants a guarantee from Prime Minister John Howard that shirts given as gifts to APEC delegates will be made by workers receiving fair pay and ...
'Election wheel' points to October 20 NEWS.com.au
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The Age
'Excluded' protester to march against APEC
The Age, Australia - 18 hours ago
University tutor Paddy Gibson, 24, is on a list of people who NSW Police have said cannot enter any APEC security area. Mr Gibson said he had seen the full ...
APEC's banned persons 'will be contacted' ABC Online
Police, protester stalemate continues ahead of APEC ABC Online
Protesters, police fail to agree on APEC The Age
The Age - SBS - World News Australia
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AFP
Newspaper sympathetic to Falun Gong to cover APEC
AFP - 19 hours ago
SYDNEY (AFP) — A newspaper sympathetic to the Falun Gong spiritual movement Friday said it has been accredited to cover the upcoming APEC leaders summit, ...
Anger as Falun Gong gets APEC media pass NEWS.com.au
China Voices Dismay At Falun Gong-Linked Reporter's Entry To APEC AHN
Falun Gong reporters granted APEC pass NEWS.com.au
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Bush says sorry to Sydney for APEC security
NEWS.com.au, Australia - 21 hours ago
By Lincoln Archer US President George W. Bush has apologised to the people of Sydney for the widespread inconvenience the APEC summit security lockdown will ...
APEC secure despite no horses: Keelty
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia - 29 Aug 2007
The APEC summit in Sydney will be secure despite the absence of police horses because of the equine influenza outbreak, Australian Federal Police ...
1500 ADF personnel to provide APEC security ABC Online
APEC security stepped up in Sydney NEWS.com.au
Cost of Sydney lockdown: $150m Advertiser Adelaide
Macquarie National News - The West Australian
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Australian city of Sydney prepares for APEC summit
Radio Australia, Australia - 2 hours ago
"It's really from this weekend, Saturday morning onwards that the disruption caused by APEC will commence," he said. Buses terminating at the Quay will ...
Up goes fence, in comes gridlock Daily Telegraph
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