What is the exact nature of the security arrangements/relationship between the AFP, ACT Policing and the US Secret Service for this visit?
Specifics of the arrangements cannot be revealed due to operational security. However, ACT Policing has command and control of all operational matters associated with the security and movement of visiting dignitaries during their stay in the ACT. The AFP provides specific services to support that function including personal protection officers to the President, in cooperation with the US Secret Service.
From a police perspective, how long has the planning process been underway for this visit?
A significant proportion of preliminary planning had been undertaken by ACT Policing’s Emergency Management and Planning team when a prospective POTUS visit was mooted earlier last year but then cancelled. When the timing “window” for this visit was announced several months ago, those plans were reactivated, refreshed and new components added. The POTUS visit is one of several VIP visits to Canberra in which ACT Policing has been in control of the movement security in recent months, including Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands.
How do the arrangements for this type of visit differ to that of other dignitaries?
ACT Policing’s VIP transport and movement security package is capable of being modified in accordance with a variety of factors, including the threat assessment level to the Principal, and the number and nature of vehicles within the motorcade. These details will be factored into transport security arrangements for the POTUS motorcade.
Is there an expectation of protest activity? Are police prepared for this? Have any special police powers been invoked for this visit?
Police have contingency plans and resources in place to deal with operational issues as they emerge. Our Operational Support Group is on standby, as are our SRS-Tactical Response members. Major Events legislation has been invoked for the President’s visit to the Australian War Memorial on November 17.
Will any roads be blocked for the President’s visit?
No roads will be blocked for the visit. However, traffic, parking and pedestrian restrictions will apply for short periods of time at various locations, and motorists may be slightly inconvenienced to accommodate for the operational movement of the VIP motorcade.
How many officers will be involved for the President’s visit?
For operational security reasons, it is not ACT Policing practice to release the number of members involved.
What type of roles will the officers be performing for the visit?
Officers will be engaged in a variety of roles at different times. Those involved include the SRS-Bomb Response Team, Traffic Operations, Emergency Management and Planning and Intelligence.
Will the officers be primarily from ACT Policing or the AFP?
All our sworn officers are AFP members. The majority rostered to support this visit are from ACT Policing, however officers from the broader AFP will also be utilised as required.
Will staff be paid overtime for work during the visit?
Staffing rosters were modified in advance so as to minimise the amount of overtime required. However, there are no additional expenses to the ACT Government as a result of dignitary visits as outlined in the 2011-2016 Policing Arrangement.
Will unsworn staff be used for the visit?
Unsworn staff are an essential part of ACT Policing’s workforce and will be performing specific roles during the visit, such as Intelligence and Media Liaison. Volunteers in Policing will also be assisting with transport and catering.
Is leave being cancelled for the visit?
A leave embargo was put in place within ACT Policing several months ago when the rough timing of the POTUS visit was known. However, any member’s travel plans which had been in place before the embargo was announced have been honoured.
What will the visit cost your force in terms of overtime, additional officers etc?
It is difficult to provide a costing until post-event. However, as a general rule the cost of dignitary visits to the ACT are borne by the ACT Policing budget as outlined in the 2011-2016 Policing Arrangement. The payment of any cost over-run will be assessed if and when it occurs.
How much will the visit cost the ACT?
ACT Policing’s services are born within its budget, as outlined by the 2011-2016 Policing Arrangement.
AAP
US President Barack Obama will use his speech to federal parliament to outline the future of America's engagement with the Asia-Pacific.
But new details of next week's long-awaited two-day Australian visit revealed by the White House show Mr Obama won't focus solely on serious policy pronouncements and lofty rhetoric - he'll also take the time to join Prime Minister Julia Gillard in meeting children at a Canberra primary school.
Mr Obama is due to arrive in Australia next Wednesday afternoon - provided no domestic or international crises force him to cancel for a third time.
He will be welcomed by Governor-General Quentin Bryce before heading into a formal meeting with Ms Gillard at Parliament House, followed by a joint press conference.
Ms Gillard will then host Mr Obama at a formal dinner where he will make some remarks about the US-Australia alliance.
Mr Obama will begin Thursday by laying a wreath at the Australian War Memorial before meeting briefly with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.
The US president will deliver his speech to a special joint sitting of parliamentarians at about 10.15am.
While Mr Obama will talk about the bilateral alliance he also will reference America's broader role in the Asia-Pacific.
"This will really be the kind of anchor speech by the president in his first term on how the US sees the Asia-Pacific," Ben Rhodes, a White House deputy national security adviser, told reporters in Washington.
It will touch on how the US has sought to strengthen relations with emerging powers such as China and India, and engage with regional institutions such as APEC and the East Asia Summit.
"I think he'll focus on the economic agenda in the Asia-Pacific and the enormous potential of deepening economic ties," Mr Rhodes said.
"He'll focus on the security agenda - including the US posture in the region going forward - our defence posture, as well as our alliance in political relationships.
"And, of course, he'll speak about our support for democratic values in the region."
After the address, Ms Gillard will take Mr Obama to visit a local primary school.
The visit follows a similar excursion the pair made to a Washington DC school when Ms Gillard visited the US earlier this year.
"Education is very important to both President Obama and Prime Minister Gillard," Mr Rhodes said.
Mr Obama will then greet US embassy staff before flying to Darwin, arriving about 4pm local time.
He will lay a wreath at a memorial to the USS Peary - sunk in Darwin Harbour by the Japanese in 1942 - before joining Ms Gillard at a local military base.
It is believed Mr Obama may use the Darwin leg of the visit to announce a boost in America's military presence in northern Australia.
Mr Obama also will meet local leaders - including some Aboriginal representatives - before flying out to Bali for the East Asia Summit.
The president pulled out of two previously planned visits, once to oversee his health reforms and once to deal with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Gob wrote:
How do the arrangements for this type of visit differ to that of other dignitaries?
Less complex than most, no crowd control needed.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
WASHINGTON (CNN) — If there’s one area where President Obama and his Australian counterpart disagree, it is over the culinary merits of Vegemite.
Vege-what? That was on the mind of one 11th grade history student when she asked Prime Minister Julia Gillard to explain the Australian, um, delicacy, during a visit with Obama to Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia on Monday.
As Gillard described the sandwich spread as a “by-product of making beer” and “yeast paste,” she must have realized how unappetizing that sounded to American kids who grew up on PB&J.
“I’m making this sound really good, aren’t I?” Gillard quipped and then added the spread has a black hue and is “quite salty,” cringe-inducing adjectives when combined with yeast paste.
President Obama didn’t hold back, telling the class “it’s horrible,” before the prime minister could make her case. Once she did, he verbalized what some students in the room might have been thinking.
“So it’s like a quasi-vegetable by-product paste that you smear on your toast for breakfast.” said Obama. “Sounds good, doesn’t it?”
Gillard defended her country’s culinary quirks, like any loyal prime minister would do, and offered sage advice.
“The beginner’s error with Vegemite is to put too much on a piece of bread or a piece of toast, you don’t put it on like jam or anything like that,” said Gillard. “You got to do it very lightly, spread it very thinly, and it’s good.”
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
Crackpot wrote:WHat does it say that despite my concerns the Debate last night really didn't fuck up traffic all that bad?
The Occupants in Oakland are doing much worse; delaying all kinds of public transportation (which I'm trying to use) Nowhere outside of the Middle East, would you expect to hear the words 'Civil Unrest' as the reason for late trains and buses.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
