Carmen Lawrence was speaking on PM tonight about how the public galleries of our Parliament, the House itself and even the exterior of the House will be off-limits to the general public when George W Bush and some Chinese leader turn up there next week. Apparently any protesters are usually allowed to gather outside but on these occasions, they're to be sent off down the hill somewhere where they won't be seen or heard.
Less than half an hour later, then I saw Laurie Oakes interviewing George W himself on "A Current Affair". It was a fairly lazy interview where Laurie asked some tougher questions but didn't blink when George easily stepped around them. He did ask George whether it would be an issue if some members of the Parliament expressed their disapproval of him by wearing white armbands or turning their backs on him. George wasn't fazed, saying "that's democracy".
So if you're a member of Parliament you can protest (as long as you do it quietly) but if you're a member of the general public, you're kept out of sight and hopefully, far enough away so that even your angry yelling can't be heard. Yep, that's what I call open and free democracy.
I wonder whether George will have any opportunity to see any real people? Or will he be moved from airport to Parliament to hotel under a veil so that he doesn't see anything which might upset him? I'll have to dig around and see if I can find out what exactly his itinerary involves.
Posted by david at October 15, 2003 8:25 PM