Thursday 2 February 2006

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

1. Former ADF Head Issues Warning Over US Alliance
2. Big Guns Shoot Down Call For Military Conscription
3. Ambassador Carried Out His Mission
4. ALP Won’t Pursue Nuclear Power: Beazley
5. Undiplomatic View
6. Cyber Storm Bytes Back At Terrorists
7. Special Report:Inquiry into Aerial Nuclear Testing in French Polynesia 1966-1974

1. Former ADF Head Issues Warning Over US Alliance,
   ABC News Online, 2006-01-31

   A former chief of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), retired Admiral Chris Barrie, has delivered a grim prediction on the state of Australia’s defence alliance with the United States. He says in future,the majority of an untrusting Australian community will end up resenting the alliance.

   Of related interest:

   a. Australia May Grow Closer To China: Ex-Defense Chief, Madeleine Coorey, (AFP) China Post, 2006-02-01

   b. Permanent Friends? Historical Reflections On The Australian-American Alliance Peter Edwards, Lowy Institute Paper
   How has the Australian-American alliance survived for more than fifty years? How can Australian governments ensure that it retains public support for another fifty years?

2. Big Guns Shoot Down Call For Military Conscription,
   Geoffrey Barker, AFR*, 2006-02-01

   A call by former defence force chief Chris Barrie for national debate on reintroducing compulsory universal military service came under instant and heavy fire yesterday from Australia’s main community-based defence lobby.
   *Subscription required

   Of related interest:

   a. National Service: Have a Debate but Let it Be an Informed One, Comment by The Australia Defence Association, ADA, 2006-02-02
   Calls for the reintroduction of national service in Australia are cyclical and tend to ignore or gloss over the facts, implications and history involved. Compulsory schemes involving conscription of the unwilling rather than encouraging more volunteering mean several hard truths need to be faced.

   b. Military Conscription: Issues For Australia, Gary Brown, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Group, 12 October 1999, Parliamentary Library, Current Issues Brief 7 1999-2000

3. Ambassador Carried Out His Mission,
   Marian Wilkinson, Age, 2006-02-01

   In the lead-up to the Iraq war, Michael Thawley was John Howard’s eyes and ears in Washington. When Mr Thawley went to lobby Republican Senator Norm Coleman on AWB he would have been operating under strict instructions from Canberra.

   Of related interest:

   Exposed: Secret Wheat Talks, Michael Gawenda, Michelle Grattan and Marian Wilkinson, Age, 2006-02-01
   The Australian ambassador in Washington urged a key US Congressional committee not to go ahead with a planned investigation into allegations that AWB had paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s regime. Sources have said that late in 2004, then ambassador Michael Thawley met Senator Norm Coleman, chairman of the Senate Permanent Sub-Committee on Investigations, saying the allegations against AWB were part of a campaign by American wheat interests to discredit AWB. The meeting was held in the lead-up to the October 9 Australian federal election.

4. ALP Won’t Pursue Nuclear Power: Beazley,
   AAP, Age, 2006-02-01

   Australia does not need nuclear power and a Labor government would not go down that path, Opposition Leader Kim Beazley has said.

5. Undiplomatic View,
   Geoffrey Barker, AFR*, 2006-02-01

   The United Nations is “stuffed” and in “real difficulties”, according to the director of Sydney’s Lowy Institute for International Policy, Allan Gyngell. “The UN Security Council still consists of the victors of World War II, and no-one will move. As a result, the legitimacy of the UN will continue to drain away into the sand.”
   *Subscription required

   Of related interest:

   a. Australia’s New Security Environment, Allan Gyngell, Lowy Institute

   b. The UN, the US, and Australia, John Langmore, UNSW Press, 2005.

6. Cyber Storm Bytes Back At Terrorists,
   Rachel Lebihan, AFR*, 2006-01-0

   Federal government departments responsible for intelligence and law enforcement have agreed to participate in a secret international February exercise to test Australia’s ability to respond to a terrorist strike on key computer networks.
   *Subscription required

   Special Report: Inquiry into Aerial Nuclear Testing in French Polynesia 1966-1974

   Inquiry into the Consequences of Aerial Nuclear Testing in French Polynesia 1966-1974, Report from the Commission of Inquiry, Assembly of French Polynesia (Hirshon Commission report). Full report in French.

   The Inquiry Commission recommends that the government of French Polynesia :

   • take steps to rehabilitate and sanitize the islands visited
   • negotiate with France inventory to map the radioactive wastes thrown into the sea or into the lagoons and control their future disposal
   • create an expert radiology laboratory
   • establish an archives center and a memory of the nuclear testing
   • monitor the health of people who worked on the test sites and the populations affected by the fallout from aerial nuclear testing
   • negotiate with France to create durable economic development in French Polynesia
   • negotiate with France concerning the consequences of 30 years of nuclear testing, in truth and with respect for justice for the victims
   • revision of the legal status of the islands of Mururoa and Fangataufa.

   Synopsis of the Report (English) prepared by the Centre for Research and Information on Peace and Conflict (CDRPC), Lyon France.

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