Great Wall of Sydney, Haneef, the newsagent and The Bill

According to The Daily Telegraph the dubious honour of hosting APEC (a kind of evil twin of the 2000 Olympics — thanks, John!) is going to lead to mega-disruption, some of it physical.

A HUGE reinforced concrete fence will be built across much of Sydney’s CBD during next month’s APEC meetings to stop attacks from demonstrators.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal the 2.8m high “ring of steel” is meant to protect businesses which police believe could become “soft targets” for protesters prevented from taking aim at world leaders. Business leaders have told The Daily Telegraph police hold fears well-known operations such as McDonald’s and Starbucks could be hit during next month’s APEC summit. Leaders from about 100 large businesses including Coca-Cola, the Australian Stock Exchange, major banks, Myer and shopping centres were given a two-hour private briefing on the radical security arrangements on Monday.

The Daily Telegraph has learned that cranes will be deployed to help install the cage-like fence, reminiscent of the Berlin Wall which divided the European city for much of the post-war period, over five days from August 31.

Police refused to say which streets the fence will occupy but it is understood work will commence around the Hotel Inter-Continental at the corner of Bridge and Macquarie Sts. An area from Macquarie St across to George St and down to Circular Quay has been identified as a no-go zone.