The day George Bush arrived for the Sydney meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was the thirtieth anniversary of the Joh Bjelke-Petersen ban on street marches in Queensland. The coincidence was not lost: a five kilometre long, 2.8 metre high fence was being erected in Sydney, police were applying to ban protest routes in the NSW Supreme Court, and activists were notified of their inclusion on the notorious "black list" and exclusion from the city.

In organising to challenge the outlaw of protest and the meeting of APEC, we remembered how social movements defeated the Bjelke-Petersen ban thirty years ago. Rather than seeing a disappearance of street marches in Queensland, thousands of people took to the streets in defiance of the ban for two years. By the end of 1978, over 2,000 people had been arrested and the ban was dissolved.

It was difficult to build demonstrations against APEC. It was not easy to counter the huge fear campaign rolled out against the people of Sydney. We experienced intense repression throughout 2007, including police attacks on February rallies when Dick Cheney came to Sydney, dawn raids in March by riot police on homes in relation to G20 protests, concentrated surveillance, and daily media stories exposing leaked documents revealing intended violent protests from fictitious sources. In a $300 million security operation, Premier Iemma and Prime Minister Howard mobilised 3,500 police officers, 1,500 military personnel, thousands of security personnel, a $600,000 water cannon, navy ships in the harbour, jet fighters and helicopters circling the skies, teams of snipers, capsicum spray, tear gas launchers, tasers, 500 prison beds, and thirty buses converted into mobile prison cells.

Days before the demonstration, John Howard appeared on YouTube asking protestors to "stop for a moment and consider that if they really are worried about issues such as poverty, security and climate change, [to] then support APEC, not attack it", blaming the security lockdown on "people who threaten violence as part of their protest". Labor leader Kevin Rudd called for "any violent protests [to] be met with the full force of the law".

Activists attempted to reclaim media and public discourse in APEC week with successful blockades of the Loy Yang coal-fired power station in the LaTrobe Valley and of Newcastle Coal Port, demanding real action on climate change and exposing the non-binding, "aspirational" and business-as-usual policies proposed by APEC. Friends of the Earth Sydney held a multi-venue exhibition "Trajectories of Dissent", documenting the history of protests against APEC in Kuala Lumpur, Santiago, Jakarta, Vancouver, Osaka, Hanoi and more, inviting artists, researchers and activists from across the Asia-Pacific to contribute art and dialogue.

Many of us were initially ambivalent toward organising against APEC. For anarchist collective Mutiny, "police preparation seem[ed] to strengthen the arguments against summit protest, especially doubts about the value of challenging the state on their terrain and when they are most prepared. On the other hand, they also strengthen feelings that it is important to defy police attempts to frighten us."

Some NGOs explicitly distanced themselves from protest organising, with Greenpeace, Make Poverty History and Climate Action Network Australia forming an NGO media centre, holding daily media briefings and offering commentary on APEC decisions.

Under police, state and media attacks, the Stop Bush Coalition responded with public statements and posters persistently reiterating they were planning a "peaceful protest", believing it would be easier to build the demonstration and keep trade unions involved. Activists challenged the discourse, asking: if we intend to assert our right to dissent and we know the police are preparing to attack us, how can we advertise "peaceful" protests? Some argued declaring the protest "peaceful" was a capitulation to media hysteria about violent protests – regarding Stop Bush Coalition pledging "obedience" to police, distancing themselves from G20 protests, excluding diversity of tactics, and positing the "responsibility to ensure a peaceful protest in a police state" on activists. Anarchist collective Mutiny wrote that insisting on peaceful protest "amplifies the wedge politics of the police and media: and it doesn't stop police violence. It seems downright irresponsible to promise – or demand – peace."

When police leaked to media photos of the "excluded persons list", the political response was more coherent. Blacklisted people immediately vowed to defy the restrictions, which meant they could be excluded or removed from any "declared area", and liable to immediate arrest and detention. Supported by the Maritime Union of Australia and Fire Brigades Employees Union, excluded persons were marched to the demonstration en bloc. But before leaving Trades Hall, a union official warned excluded persons and protestors "not to cause trouble" if they were marching with them.

This self-policing continued from the platform with rally MC Alex Bainbridge cautioning demonstrators several times between speeches to be peaceful. The decision of Friday's 500-strong convergence meeting was unambiguous: voting to publicly reject the exclusion zones, refusing to accept the route dictated by police, and marching to the police lines for a sit down and speakers at the barricades. However, "Peace Monitors" (rally marshals) and MCs chose not to tell the rally, instead defying the decision of the meeting, and confining the march to a three block police-assigned route. This breakdown in communication and anti-democratic action by some protest organisers raises real challenges if we are to have any confidence in collective decisions we make in the future.

The 10,000 people at the Saturday demonstration against APEC demanded workers rights, justice for Indigenous peoples, a nuclear-free future, real action on climate change and an end to the war on Iraq. People came out onto the streets with a real sense of urgency, demonstrating their opposition to over-policing and fear mongering.

Policing at APEC illustrated a leap in the strategy of repression. For Prime Minister Howard, "a decision was clearly taken – the right decision – that pre-emptive and forward action was better than retaliation and it worked brilliantly, it really did". Assembling $300 million of resources and using a sustained pre-emptive police and media attack on "peaceful protests", it is reasonable to assume the state will continue to pursue the same strategy.

In our own strategies, there is a real risk of self-policing, of limiting our tactics and keeping a lid on dissent. There is a real risk – as governments and the media attempt to further marginalise social movements, aligning them with violence and terrorism – our protests will simply be for the front page of the Daily Telegraph, not to build movements capable of stopping wars and dangerous climate change.

Holly Creenaune organised for APEC protests with Sydney Nuclear Free Coalition and Friends of the Earth Sydney, and spoke at Town Hall at the Saturday demonstration. <holly.creenaune@foe.org.au>