Police chief in call to dump major events
On the eve of the southern hemisphere’s major meetings and incentives expo (AIME) in Melbourne, the local police chief has stunned the city by suggesting it may have to abandon hosting major events such as last year’s G20 conference to avoid “disrupting the entire city”,
Victoria Police’s chief commissioner, Christine Nixon, said police around the world increasingly believe international conferences with the potential to attract organised, violent demonstrators should not be held in big cities.
During the G20 conference in Melbourne demonstrators clashed with police lines outside the convention at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
“To have stood in the middle of Collins Street at 5 o’clock on a Saturday (during G20) and see the street absolutely empty because we had to provide that level of protection … I think you have to very seriously consider whether or not cities are the appropriate locations to hold these sort of events, ” she told The Age newspaper.
But the police chief’s suggestion that major conferences may need to be relocated to islands or resorts was dismissed by Australia’s federal treasurer, Peter Costello.
Costello told The Age that such a move would consign Melbourne to “second-rate status”.
He defended last November’s G20 international economic forum, saying it was “the most important financial event ever held in Melbourne”.
“Washington, Ottawa and Berlin (previous G20 venues) do not surrender to demonstrators and cancel or move events as a consequence, and nor should Melbourne,” he said.
“Sydney will host the APEC leaders’ meeting later this year and it is expected NSW Police can handle demonstrators.”
Report by The Mole
Ian Jarrett
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