Coalition of protesters make point

By Naomi Larkin

With members of the Army, Navy and police lurking behind trees and standing to attention along the fenceline, the Domain has not been the place to walk your dog.

From 6 pm on Sunday the military and police closed it to the public, put up fences around the perimeter and barricaded the entrances in preparation for the Apec leaders' summit yesterday at the Auckland Museum.

The fences, and those guarding them, became the focus of a 200-strong protest aimed at sending anti-Apec messages to the leaders inside.

The demonstrators, who included members from Tino Rangatiratanga, the Auckland Coalition Against Apec, Apec Action, the Alliance and the Green Party, left from Karangahape Rd at noon.

They marched across Grafton Bridge and congregated outside the front entrance to the Domain, where various speakers outlined their opposition.

Things turned nasty when protesters stormed the fence in Carlton Gore Rd.

A large police contingent forced them back and the march continued. A 22-year-old Palmerston North man was arrested and charged with disorderly behaviour.

A second man was later arrested on the corner of Symonds St and Karangahape Rd and has also been charged with disorderly behaviour.

Tame Iti, of the Tino Rangatiratanga Maori sovereignty movement, said the protest provided a chance to get a "hearing on the international scene" and to show the group's solidarity with opponents of Apec.

Veteran protester John Minto, spokesman for the Quality Public Education Coalition, said that in 25 years of demonstrating he had never seen soldiers used on barricades.

"It's ominous ... what have these people been trained in apart from killing people?"