APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, February 18, 2008

Recommended Citation

"APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, February 18, 2008", APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, February 18, 2008, https://nautilus.org/apsnet/apsnet-18-february-2008/

APSNet 18 February 2008

  1. Australia ‘Let Down’ Timor
  2. Aussie Troops to Do More in Afghanistan
  3. Axe Falls on $1Bn Choppers
  4. Australia to Consider Seasonal Worker Plan
  5. World Wide Webs: Diasporas and the International System
  6. An Uncertain Future: Law Enforcement, National Security and Climate Change
  7. Austral Policy Forum 08-02A: Major Alfredo Alves Reinado: Cycles of Torture, Pain, Violence – Sara Niner

1. Australia ‘Let Down’ Timor, Lindsay Murdoch, Age, 2008-02-18

The Australian military failed to send a helicopter to rescue East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao during the assassination attempts. Joaquim Fonseca, one of Mr Gusmao’s closest advisers, said Mr Gusmao and his driver hailed a local minibus. A spokeswoman for the UN in East Timor, Allison Cooper, said that Mr Fonseca’s complaint would be included in a UN investigation into security for the country’s leaders.

2. Aussie Troops to Do More in Afghanistan, Australian, 2008-02-18

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said the Federal Government would shortly announce the outcome of a review of the make-up of the 1000 or so Australian forces in Afghanistan. He indicated that Australia was likely to play a greater role in training local forces in future.

3. Axe Falls on $1Bn Choppers, Patrick Walters, Australian, 2008-02-18

Nearly a year after it earned a reprieve from the Howard government, the navy’s $1 billion Seasprite helicopter is set to be axed. Senior defence sources say that it is certain the ill-fated Seasprite program – which is running more than six years late – will be abandoned. The navy’s surface fleet is expected to be equipped with European MRH-90 machines in place of the Seasprites, which were first ordered in 1997.

4. Australia to Consider Seasonal Worker Plan, Graeme Dobell with Duncan Kerr, ABC, 2008-02-18 [transcript]

The new chief of Australian policy for the South Pacific says the Rudd Government is ready to consider a special plan for Pacific workers to do unskilled seasonal work in Australia. The Parliamentary Secretary for the South Pacific, Duncan Kerr, says the success of the pilot scheme being run by New Zealand will shape Australian thinking.

5. World Wide Webs: Diasporas and the International System, Michael Fullilove, Lowy Institute, 2008-02-18

Diasporas are getting larger, thicker and stronger – with important implications for global economics, identity, politics and security. A fresh take on globalisation which raises questions for national governments, including the Australian government.

6. An Uncertain Future: Law Enforcement, National Security and Climate Change, Chris Abbott, Oxford Research Group, January 2008 [2.29 MB, PDF]

This paper is based in part on a briefing given by the author to the Australian Federal Police and other law enforcement and defence agencies in Canberra at the end of 2007. It builds on some of the analysis initially laid out in ‘Global Responses to Global Threats’ (June 2006) and ‘Beyond Terror’ (April 2007), and is published as part of ORG’s ‘Sustainable Security’ project.

7. Austral Policy Forum 08-02A: Major Alfredo Alves Reinado: Cycles of Torture, Pain, Violence – Sara Niner

Sara Niner, of Monash University, writes that the death of Alfredo Reinado during the attack he lead on the president of Timor Leste on February 11th must be understood in the context that “post-traumatic stress syndrome affects one third of the population” of East Timor. Such personal histories, notes Niner, do “not affect everybody the same. Some have survived such treatment and it has transformed them into deeply empathetic, generous, thoughtful human beings able to forgive the perpetrators.” Reinado’s childhood experiences and personality “propelled him on to ever increasing grandiose and dangerous behaviour.” Niner argues that “the cycle of violence continues and the pain and trauma remains unaddressed and unacknowledged, even amongst the leadership. Xanana’s Gusmao’s example of forgiveness is instructive but not always possible. In every program and project, every office and workplace, every team and community a strategy to deal with these issues should be built into activities.”

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Richard Tanter,
Project Co-ordinator