A World Trade Organisation meeting, originally planned for the ritzy suburb of Double Bay, will now go ahead in the less salubrious but more secure environs of Olympic Park, Homebush.
The new venue was announced yesterday by the Trade Minister, Mark Vaile, more than two weeks after the original plan was abandoned because of fears that up to 10,000 anti-globalisation protesters might disrupt proceedings.
Organisers originally picked the Sir Stamford Hotel in Double Bay as the venue for the meeting of trade ministers from 25 countries, but eventually conceded the location posed a high security risk.
The Assistant Police Commissioner, Dick Adams, said at the time that the narrow streets of the small Double Bay shopping precinct would be hard to secure and there was a risk of serious property damage, especially to shops selling luxury brands that might attract the ire of protesters.
The new venue is the Novotel Olympic Park.
Mr Vaile said he still expected protests, but had been assured by police that the new site was more easily secured.
He stressed that the meeting, to be held from November 14-15, would be small and informal, with no decision-making role and with an agenda devoted substantially to trade problems facing the poorest nations.
The meeting must find solutions to several problems for which a deadline of December31 was set at the last round of negotiations.
Among them is the humanitarian problem of access to medicines by the poorest countries.
It already has been agreed that, under some circumstances, drug companies may be forced to license pharmaceutical patents to other manufacturers, if they themselves have no manufacturing base in the country concerned. However, a means has yet to be agreed to get vital drugs to those countries that have no pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity.
The Sydney meeting will also consider "special and differential treatment" of developing countries.
"Seventeen of the 25 countries attending are developing countries. Their presence will ensure this meeting can give close attention to their interests," Mr Vaile said.
He said that representatives of "a number" of non-government organisations concerned about the impacts of globalisation would be "invited to share their views with ministers".
