G20 leaders set to pledge $2 trillion in growth amid massive security op

G20 leaders meeting in Brisbane this weekend will pledge to rev up combined growth by $2 trillion, as Australia deploys its largest-ever peacetime security operation amid fears of violent protests and extremist attacks. Analysts are sceptical about the efficacy of the proposed economic measures as key pistons of the global economic engine such as Germany and China are starting to misfire, and Japan is again at risk of going into reverse. With Barack Obama, China’s Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin of Russia among the leaders coming to the Brisbane summit, G20 nations say some 900 measures on how to meet their goal have been agreed upon so far. These include accelerating infrastructure investment, financial reform and encouraging free trade. But observers say the details are still missing.

The G20 agenda is short on policy specifics to achieve this target. It is also short on genuinely new ideas to achieve this target. So it’s unclear how the G20 expects to achieve the higher growth target given slower growth in Germany and China and the end of easy money in the U.S. and UK.

Mark Melatos, senior lecturer at the School of Economics at the University of Sydney

Meanwhile, more than 6,000 police officers from as far afield as New Zealand have locked down the centre of Australia’s third-biggest city, while F/A18 Super Hornets will enforce a strict no-fly zone around the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. Police have been given boosted powers, including the ability to strip-search anyone deemed suspicious near the venue, to protect attendees including Obama and the leaders of Russia and China. They also have an arsenal of crowd control hardware at their disposal including water cannon and several “sound cannons” — giant vehicle-mounted speakers that blast ear-piercing shrieks at unruly crowds.

Ensuring safety and security around the G20 is a legitimate purpose, but this… gets the balance completely wrong.

Human Rights Law Centre chief Hugh de Kretser

Asia-Pacific G20 security