After APEC: Back to the Drawing Board

APEC is set to wrap up and although it has all come off as a "much ado about nothing" affair, there are some lasting repercussions:

1) "A $250 million security operations has been brought down by 11 comedians." This comment uttered in response to the penetration of the security shield erected around Bush and the rest of the APEC leadership by the The Chaser crew. So much for Australia's big demonstration of power, authority and competence amidst the global war on terror. Australians found the whole thing hysterical, but government officials weren't smiling. At least the NSW police got to bash a few protestors to make sure everyone knows they mean business.

2) A grand opportunity for John Howard to prop up his sagging poll numbers slipped past, with Howard receiving little praise or attention, his own party grumbling about a snap election and change of leadership, and opposition leader Kevin Rudd coming across cool, calm, and collected.

3) Another smokescreen on climate change emerged, with APEC leaders agreeing that an international greenhouse gas mitigation target may not be such a bad idea and setting regional goals (non-binding of course) of reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of their respective economies by 25% by 2030. In other words, they promise to dream optimistically about a future world where energy intensity continues to decline (as it has for decades) and greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. If maintaining "business-as-usual" is a grand vision of progressive behaviour, I reckon we're in trouble.