Australia

from cryptogon, 8 October 2008:
CRIMTRAC's planned automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system could become a mass surveillance system, taking as many as 70 million photos of cars and drivers every day across a vast network of roadside cameras.
State and federal police forces want full-frontal images of vehicles, including the driver and front passenger, that are clear enough for identification purposes and usable as evidence in court. more

from email, 30 September 2008: When people first started talking about shutting down the APDSE (Asia Pacific Defence and Security Exhibition), which was to be held in Adelaide from November 11, it seemed like an almost impossible task. Now they've announced that they've called it off! And they called it off because of fears of protests from `feral anarchists', including `the ultra-militant protest group Mutiny.' It's obvious that this victory really had very little to do with us.  more

from email, via libcom, 14 August 2008: In November 2006, people took to the streets of Melbourne to confront the G20, a meeting of the world's most powerful finance ministers whose policies perpetrate suffering and violence in countless communities around the world every day. Since that protest, Victorian and Federal police have carried out a vast operation of surveillance and arrests, raiding houses at dawn and slapping protestors with ludicrous charges and repressive bail conditions. This is a campaign of intimidation and part of an attempt to criminalise protest. The legal process for those charged after the G20 protests moves slowly on. There have been a few developments this month. more

from email, 15 April 2008: TEN protesters have been convicted but spared jail time for their part in the violent G20 riots, for behaviour described as "defiant" and "aggressive". Magistrate Sarah Dawes today told the court they had shown a callous disregard for the wellbeing of police. Melbourne Magistrates Court heard police were outnumbered and attacked by demonstrators trying to get to delegates at the Group of 20 nations summit at Melbourne's Grand Hyatt Hotel in November, 2006. more

from risingtide australia, 27 March 2008: On April 1st, 2008, we're going to turn the tables and show them who the real fools are.
Target a local fossil fool! Show the clowns investing in coal, the carbon offset contortionist or the oily strong man. Join with thousands around the world in taking one step closer to dismantling the fossil fuel industry. Find a fossil fool in your community and pull a prank that packs a punch. more

from email, 27 March 2008: In November 2006, people took to the streets of Melbourne to confront the G20, a meeting of the world’s most powerful finance ministers whose policies perpetrate suffering and violence in countless communities around the world every day. Since that protest, Victorian and Federal police have carried out a vast operation of surveillance and arrests, raiding houses at dawn and slapping protestors with ludicrous charges and repressive bail conditions.  more

from anarkismo, 6 March 2008: Today is the first day of a 4 week committal hearing for 23 people facing charges relating to the G20 protests that took place in Melbourne in November 2006. While people attended the G20 protests for numerous reasons, there is only one reason that the State is pursuing these activists through the courts. The reason is to silence those who are understandably angry about the state of world affairs, and to stop them from taking direct action to change society. more

from sydney-imc, 5 February 2008: Using unnecessary force and intimidation, police arrested peaceful protesters at the end of the rally at the APEC summit in Sydney in September 2007. While filming these police actions, Melbourne-based independent filmmaker Marcela Olea was arrested and her gear destroyed. She now faces two charges of assaulting police and one charge of resisting arrest. more

from g20 solidarity, 17 December 2007: In a time of International repression against activists all over the globe, we are calling out for letters of support and solidarity for anarchists arrested and facing severe repression after the G20 economic forum protests of November 2006 in Melbourne, Australia. more

reposted 9 September 2007: "In spite of repression, and in spite of a state sponsored orchestrated smear campaign against, AC/DC, Melbourne political activists of all walks gathered to show solidarity and unity with those of our brothers and sisters defending their civil rights against the paramilitary police state in occupied Eora Country (Sydney)..." more

Articles from the newswires filtered for articles about the Sydney 2007 Asia-Pacific Economic Forum [APEC] summit of regional leaders.

Keyword: APEC more

from email, 05 Sep 2007: "It's clear that the police and security forces -- in complicity with the state and corporate proponents of APEC, as well as sensationalist mainstream media -- utilize a strategy of divide and rule. They distinguish between "good" and "bad" protesters to weaken social movements..." more

from various sources, 5 September 2007: A collection of items on the state response to the prospect of people thinking for themselves rather than following their nominated leaders' commands. more

from email, 30 August 2007: "This is a statement of our intent to disrupt the APEC conference, because we believe it promotes exploitation, inequality and the destruction of the planet. We are dreaming up ways to disrupt the conference whilst communicating our deeply held convictions against capitalism and the authoritarian state, and our belief that another world is possible..." more

July 08 2007: Hundreds of high-definition surveillance cameras have been installed on Sydney's transport network for September's Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation conference, but only some will be monitored live. more

Christmas Island is 2,400km from Perth, 360km from Jakarta and nearly 2000km from Darwin.

The detenton complex is at the far end of the island, which is 24km long and 7 km wide.

The area surrounding the centre has high cliffs making access to the sea impossible. Escape is impossible. Why this intense security? more

As you are no doubt aware, the police have arrested approximately 30 protesters, and are continuing to make arrests.

They are taking extraordinary measures such as publicly depicting the faces of protesters they are interested in questioning, and laying very serious charges such as riot and affray (charges that could result in jail terms of several years).

Arrestees are under very restrictive bail conditions, such as in some cases having to report to the police three times per week, surrendering their passport and not even being allowed to leave the state.  more

Reposted from ainfos.ca: Date Tue, 19 Dec 2006: "In the capitalist media's reports on the counter-G20 convergence, creation has been subsumed and silenced in the images of destruction they have so enthusiastically plastered all over, and yet it is perhaps in that destruction that the most potent messages of all were sent. For a new world will not be ushered in through niceties or needless martyrdom, but rather through collective action towards, for want of a more eloquent term, smashing capitalism, the state and all of their apparatus of control..." more

November 22, 2006: Thought people might be interested in this from some participants in the white-overalled Arterial Bloc of the anti-G20 mobilization in Melbourne at the weekend. The second part of the post is the original call for the Arterial Block.  more

A new maximum security immigration detention complex under construction on Christmas Island, has been dubbed "Australia's Guantanamo Bay". Australia's new remote offshore detention centre will have cameras in bedrooms, electric fences and electronically controlled doors - to force centre-wide lock-downs. The level of security and surveillance, greater than at any existing detention centre, makes parts of the complex comparable to a maximum security prison. more