Monday 23 January 2006

Bi-weekly report from the Nautilus Institute at RMIT, Australia.

1. Vanstone Refuses To Return Papuans
2. West Papua Killing ‘Not Linked’ To Boat People
3. One Of The Last Liberal Liberals
4. A Land Of Fading Promise
5. MP Warns Against Sabotaging ECPII
6. Special Report: As Policy Leaders Ponder Australian Options

1. Vanstone Refuses To Return Papuans,
   Tom Allard, SMH, 2006-01-20

   Indonesia’s hopes for 43 Papuan asylum seekers to be returned have been scuttled by the Minister for Immigration, Amanda Vanstone, after she said no consideration would be given to foreign relations in the assessment of their claims. Indonesian officials were allowed brief contact with the asylum seekers. The asylum seekers were then flown to a detention centre on Christmas Island.

2. West Papua Killing ‘Not Linked’ To Boat People,
   Andra Jackson, Age, 2006-01-23

   The Indonesian embassy yesterday ruled out a link between the shooting of a boy in West Papua on Friday and the arrival in Australia last week of 43 West Papuan asylum seekers. Nick Chesterfield, from the Australian West Papua Association, said a pastor who is related to three of the asylum seekers was visited by Kopassus intelligence officers and police in Paniai yesterday morning.

   Of related interest:
   Indonesian soldiers shoot four Papuans, killing one – report, Radio New Zealand International, 2006-01-20

3. One Of The Last Liberal Liberals,
   Geoffrey Barker, AFR*, 2006-01-23

   Robert Hill’s strategic doctrine did not convince, but he was a good choice as Defence Minister. He challenged but could not defeat the regional defence-of-Australia focus of national strategic policy by insisting doggedly that defence of distant interests should matter as much as the defence of adjacent territory.

   *subscription required

4. A Land Of Fading Promise,
   Richard Woolcott, Age, 2006-01-21

   Hubris and arrogance are diminishing Australia and our reputation around the world.

5. MP Warns Against Sabotaging ECPII,
   PNG Post Courier Online, 2006-01-23

   Any person who tries to sabotage or grumble about the ECP(Mark II) will be severely dealt with, says Police Minister Bire Kimisopa. He said the challenge was for the PNG police to express reservations about their involvement with the Australians, saying he did not know about these until after the Australian officers had left the country, after the certain issues of the ECP (Mark I) was ruled unconstitutional.

   Of related interest:
   PNG, 30 Years On, Tim O’Connor, NewMatilda.com, 2005-08-31

6. Special Report: As Policy Leaders Ponder Australian Options

   Grid-locked: North Korea Needs Energy. But can the parties negotiating a solution to the nuclear crisis come up with a viable way to plug in the North? By Peter Hayes, David von Hippel, Jungmin Kang, Tatsujiro Suzuki, Richard Tanter, and Scott Bruce January/February 2006 pp. 52-58 (vol. 62, no. 01) © 2006 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

   Various countries not represented at the Six Party Talks on the North Korean nuclear issue are developing options to engage the DPRK should the talks progress. The authors analyse the leading South Korean energy engagement strategy, and find that it falls short of what is needed to support nuclear disarmament in North Korea, namely, projects that are cheap, fast, replicable, and rely on markets or nimble non-governmental organisations to deliver immediate tangible benefits to the DPRK that can be synchronized with sequential dismantlement steps.

   Contact editor: Jane Mullett
   Jane.Mullett@rmit.edu.au