Security
Originally slated to be hosted in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory the plan was changed so it would be held in Brisbane on 6 October 2001, making it two years since the previous meeting. However, on 28 September, in the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks, it was postponed, to allow for improved security. Instead of the October summit, the Heads of Government issued a statement on terrorism and established the Commonwealth Committee on Terrorism, which met on 29 January 2002, reported in March, and recommended annual reviews of the Commonwealth's counter-terrorism strategy.
The postponement dealt a big blow to the Commonwealth, both in piling up costs on an already over-stretched budget and undermining the celebration and promotion of Commonwealth culture and values to Australia that the Heads of Government had hoped the CHOGM would be. The postponement ultimately raised questions of how credible and practical the CHOGM, and thus the present Commonwealth, could be. However, the civil society celebration went on as planned, except without the Heads of Government and media presence, and were deemed to be a great success, despite the surreal circumstances.
The CHOGM itself was highly security-conscious, due to the concerns raised by the attacks. The hotel compound was ringed by an electric fence, whilst the media representatives were transported by coach between venues. Security, originally budgeted at A$11.4m, was ramped up to include 4,000 Queensland Police, 2,000 Australian Defence Force, and over 100 Federal Police personnel. This, combined with the presence of only 30 accredited NGO representatives, gave the entire CHOGM the feel of a 'retreat without a retreat', rather than accessible conference.
Read more about this topic: Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting 2002
Famous quotes containing the word security:
“Happiness is peace after strife, the overcoming of difficulties, the feeling of security and well-being. The only really happy folk are married women and single men.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
“It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. So it happens that when I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and the hunger for it ... and then the warmth and richness and fine reality of hunger satisfied ... and it is all one.”
—M.F.K. Fisher (b. 1908)
“To have in general but little feeling, seems to be the only security against feeling too much on any particular occasion.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)