Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

‘Thank goodness,’ says Senator Evans, but I suspect he will not be in Sydney. The cost of closing a city of the size and importance of Sydney, including its financial district, is extraordinary. It will run into hundreds of millions of dollars. It ought to be accounted for. APEC is a conference which could be described as, amongst other things, having a commitment to globalisation and market forces—that is, user pays—but there is no user pays involved in this at all. There is going to be an enormous cost on the community but no recompense for that. Part of the cost is involved in this legislation before us today. As an amendment to the opposition’s second reading amendment, I move:

At the end of the amendment, add:

“and considers that businesses should be compensated by the Federal Government for the economic loss caused by holding APEC in Sydney”.

On behalf of Senator Nettle I foreshadow a further second reading amendment, which is:

At the end of the motion, add:

“but given the enormous disruption and cost, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference should not have been held in the central business district of Sydney”.

This is common sense. There has to be some common sense brought into play, particularly in an age when such enormous security measures are taken. We have a fence being built in Sydney now. In the olden days they had the Great Wall of China. Then somebody came up with the Berlin Wall. Now Israel is partitioning Palestine. So Sydney suddenly gets a wall because President Bush is coming. Really? It is all so avoidable. Australia has such splendid places for conferences like this to be held without shutting down the business district of its major business city—excuse me, Melbourne. Maybe the supply of four-star hotels would do, if there were not enough five-star hotels. I understand that is one of the problems—really.

When the public domain, and the private domain on this occasion, is taken over in this way, there has to be some consideration taken. The Prime Minister is good on plebiscites. I wonder whether he considered a plebiscite with the denizens of central Sydney over this particular proposal. No, he did not—no consultation was taken here at all. I think we could have got a much better outcome, and a much more comfortable time here for the leaders from overseas, at other venues in this wonderful, great country of ours.