page_title: Chas Licciardello
section_title: APEC 2007
hierarchical_section_title: Chas Licciardello / Controversy / APEC 2007
caption_attribution_description: Chas Licciadello puts a sign over Malcolm Turnbull's head in Sydney on 18 November 2007.
context_page_description: Charles John "Chas" Licciardello is an Australian comedian and member of satirical team The Chaser. He's currently the co-host, with John Barron, of Planet America on ABC TV. Licciardello has appeared as a regular of CNNNN, The Chaser's War on Everything and The Hamster Wheel.
context_section_description: One of the most controversial stunts in which Licciardello was involved was the APEC stunt in 2007. Fellow Chaser Julian Morrow claimed that he and Licciardello aimed to get a majority of their members arrested amid the high security surrounding the APEC Australia 2007 summit in Sydney, adding jokingly that they also aimed to get Licciardello shot.
  Footage aired on The Chaser's War on Everything on 12 September 2007 showed the fake "motorcade" consisting of two SUVs, a black Holden limousine flying a Canadian flag on the bonnet, four "runners" (one of whom was Morrow) carrying hand-held video cameras and two motorcycles. They passed through two security checkpoints without being stopped by police or asked for identification; at one point, the footage showed Morrow offering to present identification to a police officer, however he was waved through without this occurring. The motorcade reached a point 10 metres outside the hotel where U.S. President George W. Bush was staying. Police only realised that the motorcade was a hoax when Licciardello, dressed as Osama bin Laden, voluntarily stepped out of the limousine.
  Following the incident, Licciardello and Morrow were detained and questioned by NSW Police on 6 September 2007 outside the InterContinental Hotel, and were charged under the APEC Meeting (Police Powers) Act 2007. The charges were dropped in April 2008. They were dropped because his lawyers stated that he was waved through the blockades and he had to do what the police said.
caption: Licciadello holds a "thought bubble" over Malcolm Turnbull's head, satirising what politicians are really thinking.
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