The Chaser's APEC stunt.

After watching the ACORN video I was reminded about a stunt during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 2007 summit in Sydney. Leading up to the week-long event for the 21 members of the Cooperation, there was a lot of media attention about how much the Australian government was spending on the security. A lot of this attention had to do with the fact that George W. Bush was attending the meetings and the press was questioning whether this highly expensive operation was just for Bush. Many of Sydney's road were closed for the event and the government later revealed that security measures cost over AU$170 million.

The Chaser's War on Everything is a comedy show that usually plays stunts on politicians. The show is broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, a state owned, but very liberal, channel. For the APEC stunt eight members of the team (including five runners dressed as bodyguards) and three hired chauffeurs manned a fake Canadian motorcade consisting of two motorcycles, two black four-wheel drive vehicles, and a black sedan. One of the Chaser team was dressed as Osama bin Laden. While the team made it obvious it was a joke, with security passes marked "JOKE", they were able to get passed the check points. The team didn't think they would get passed the first check point, but when they realised that they could get through they ended up getting out of the car in front of the building. While the Chaser isn't an independent media program, it shows how these stunts are able to challenge, or test, what the government is doing in ways that traditional media outlets aren't. The YouTube clip spread all over the Internet, showing the world the failings of the very expensive security measures put in place for the meeting.