APSNet 13 March 2008

1. Audit Shoots Holes in F-35 Costings
2. Afghan Heroin Hits Melbourne Streets
3. Deal Struck With PNG on Carbon Trading
4. Dutch See Civilians Role in Afghanistan
5. ‘Dum-Dum’ Bullets Nearly Cost Ramos Horta His Life, but He Grieves for Attacker
6. UN Resolution against Iran Was Illegal: Indonesian President
7. Cut Off Gas Supplies to S’pore? Indonesia Denies Remark

1. Audit Shoots Holes in F-35 Costings, Patrick Walters, Australian, 2008-03-13

The RAAF could be forced to drastically rethink the timetable and strategy for acquiring up to 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in the wake of a US government report, which found that the official program cost of the F-35 could be understated by up to $US38 billion and that the development schedule is likely to slip from 12 to 27 months.

• Joint Strike Fighter: Recent Decisions by DOD Add to Program Risks, United States General Accounting Office, March 2008 {PDF, 901 KB}
• Ex-RAAF Chiefs Doubt JSF Case, Patrick Walters, Australian, 2008-03-12

2. Afghan Heroin Hits Melbourne Streets, Dan Oakes, Age, 2008-03-07

An explosion in opium production in Afghanistan has sparked fears that Australia could be targeted by crime syndicates seeking new markets for heroin. Australian authorities and drug treatment experts have seen an increase in Australian cities of what appears to be Afghan “brown” heroin, not the traditional “white” heroin originating in the Golden Triangle of South-East Asia.

3. Deal Struck With PNG on Carbon Trading, Chris Hammer, Age, 2008-03-07

Australia and Papua New Guinea have laid the groundwork for carbon trading between the two neighbours, even before either country has developed a domestic emissions trading scheme. The partnership aims to help save PNG rainforests by enabling the sale of carbon credits through future national, regional and global emissions trading schemes.

• Garnaut Climate Change Review, Interim Report to the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments of Australia, February 2008 {PDF, 634KB}

4. Dutch See Civilians Role in Afghanistan, Age, 2008-03-11

The Dutch believe that most of the coalition troops helping rebuild Afghanistan will be replaced by police and other civilian personnel over the next two years. Dutch Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop made the prediction after meeting Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith.

• Troops Brace for More Violence, Tom Allard, SMH, 2008-03-11

5. ‘Dum-Dum’ Bullets Nearly Cost Ramos Horta His Life, but He Grieves for Attacker, Lindsay Murdoch, Age, 2008-03-12

A gangster in Jakarta called Hercules is under investigation over his links to Reinado. Hercules visited Dili only days before the February 11 attack on Mr Ramos Horta. He became well known in Indonesia as a “dirty tricks” operative under the former dictator Suharto. He was implicated in a failed 1999 plot to assassinate East Timor’s former Indonesian-appointed governor and political party leader Mario Carrascalao.

6. UN Resolution against Iran Was Illegal: Indonesian President, Mehr News, 2008-03-11

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that Iran’s nuclear program is completely peaceful and the recent UN resolution against the country was illegal. Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad stated that the Islamic Republic sees no limit to the expansion of ties with Indonesia. Tehran is ready to share its valuable experiences in fields such as peaceful nuclear technology, nanotechnology, and economic affairs. 

• Editorial: Abstention Has Its Costs, Jakarta Post, 2008-03-06

7. Cut Off Gas Supplies to S’pore? Indonesia Denies Remark, Salim Osman, Straits Times, 2008-03-05

Indonesia’s oil and gas regulator has denied a report by state-owned Antara news agency quoting one of its top officials as saying gas supplies to Singapore could be cut off if bilateral relations worsen. Mr Mochtar Djaya of BP Migas was quoted by Antara as saying in Batam that if gas supplies were cut off to Singapore, power supply for the whole of the island would be affected.

• BP Migas Will Stop the Gas Supply to Singapore if Tensions Continue*, Antara, 2008-03-05
  * Indonesian Language.

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