Thursday 16 February 2006

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

1. ADF Shuns Used Gear After Bungle On Choppers
2. New Iraq Role Ahead
3. Bird Flu Threatens Misery For Millions
4. Special Report: Australia, Japan and Southern Blue Fin Tuna

1. ADF Shuns Used Gear After Bungle On Choppers,
   Brendan Nicholson, Age, 2006-02-16

   Long delays and serious problems with a $1 billion contract to rebuild a fleet of 1960s helicopters for the navy have driven the Australian Defence Force to swear it will never again buy second-hand equipment.

2. New Iraq Role Ahead,
   Patrick Walters and Peter Alford, Australian, 2006-02-14

   Australian troops will stay in Iraq, most likely in training roles, after the expected wind-up of the al-Muthanna task group later this year. A scaled-down Australian ground force in Iraq is likely to be matched by a steady build-up in Afghanistan where about 500 Australians could be stationed by later this year.

3. Bird Flu Threatens Misery For Millions,
   Peter Hartcher and John Garnaut, SMH, 2006-02-16

   Avian flu could kill up to 214,000 Australians in a serious global outbreak according to a new projection by Professor Warwick McKibbin and Dr Alexandra Sidorenko. The findings will be presented at the Lowy Institute in Sydney.

   • Global Macroeconomic Consequences Of Pandemic Influenza, Warwick McKibbin and Alexandra Sidorenko, Lowy Institute, February 2006

   • A Primer On The Macroeconomic Effects Of An Influenza Pandemic, Steven Kennedy, Jim Thomson and Petar Vujanovic, Treasury Working Paper, February 2006

4. Briefing note: Australia, Japan and Southern Blue Fin Tuna

   Japan Taking ‘Illegal’ Tuna , Verity Edwards, Australian, 2006-02-11
   Hagen Stehr [Chairman, Clean Seas Tuna Ltd] has called on Canberra to impose sanctions on Japan in a crackdown against international poachers. A spokesman for federal Fisheries Minister Eric Abetz said the Government was aware of the discrepancies between international quotas and what appeared on the Japanese fish markets.

   • Endangered Tuna Catch To Be Halved, AAP, Age, 2006-01-10

   • The Facts: Southern Bluefin Tuna, CSIRO Marine Research

   • Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery, Australian Fisheries Management Agency

   • Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery: Environmental Assessment, Department of the Environment and Heritage, 25 January 2005

   • Tasmanian Endangered Tuna Push, Port Lincoln Times, 2006-02-09

   • ‘Death By Sashimi’: The Survival Of The Southern Bluefin Tuna, Richard Tanter, Arena Journal, New Series 14, 1999/2000.

Contact editor: austral@rmit.edu.au