1. Joint Naval Patrols with Indonesia Mooted
2. Letter from Indonesia: The Papuans Say, This Land and its Ores are Ours
3. Indonesian Diplomacy: Much Ado about Nothing
4. The Nuclear Obsession That Will Hurt Us
5. Defence Casts Doubt on Building Warships Here
6. Operation Breakwater – Protecting our Borders Whilst Netting 23 Suspected Illegal Fishing Vessels
7. Embassy Probes Professor’s Death in Iraq

Austral Policy Forum: 06-11A: Fiji, the War in Iraq And The Privatisation Of Security – Nic Maclellan

1. Joint Naval Patrols Mooted, AAP, Australian, 2006-04-06

   “Australia would be quite interested in conducting joint and co-ordinated naval patrols in this part of the world with the Indonesian navy. If Indonesia chooses to deploy its own civilian and or military forces to any part of its own country, that’s its right and we would not under any circumstances wish to criticise that”, says Brendan Nelson.

   • Indonesia Steps Up Navy Patrols, Rob Taylor, Australian, 2006-04-05

2. Letter from Indonesia: The Papuans Say, This Land and its Ores are Ours, Jane Perlez, New York Times, 2006-04-05

   Times are changing for multinational companies and governments long used to working out concessions in remote areas with a handshake, over the heads of local people.
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3. Indonesian Diplomacy: Much Ado about Nothing, J. Soedjati Djiwandono, Jakarta Post, 2006-04-03

   Never has Indonesian diplomacy shown its clumsiness and short-sightedness more clearly than in dealing with the current issue of 43 asylum seekers from Papua in Australia. It is outrageous to accuse the 43 Papuans of not being ‘nationalistic’ or being ‘unpatriotic’. In the first place, nationalism is an outdated and irrelevant concept, particularly in referring to a nation-state like Indonesia.

4. The Nuclear Obsession that Will Hurt Us, Kenneth Davidson, Age, 2006-04-06

   The Howard Government can’t see beyond dollar signs and wedge politics as it rushes headlong into an agreement to sell uranium to China. Australia should be able to see that there are better economic, as well as environmental, prospects in focusing on the development of renewable and conservation infrastructure to exploit its scientific competitive edge in these areas.

   • Government Rejects Nuclear Power, Katharine Murphy and Misha Schubert, Age, 2006-04-05

   • Nuclear Path May Be Near: Costello, Katharine Murphy, Age, 2006-04-06

   • Now Taiwan Is Buying our Uranium, Craig Skehan, SMH, 2006-04-04

5. Defence Casts Doubt on Building Warships Here, Patrick Walters, Australian, 2006-03-31

   The Defence Department has questioned the wisdom of building big warships in Australia, warning that local construction has the potential to hurt the wealth of the nation by drawing scarce skills away from non-defence projects. In a submission to a Senate inquiry on naval shipbuilding, Defence says “Constructing the ships identified in the Defence Capability Plan in Australia has the potential to impact adversely on the overall wealth of the nation.”

   • Defence Submission to the Senate Inquiry into Naval Shipbuilding [PDF]

   • Inquiry into Naval Shipbuilding in Australia, Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee 2005-2006

      

6. Operation Breakwater – Protecting our Borders Whilst Netting 23 Suspected Illegal Fishing Vessels, Joint Media Release, 2006-04-05

   Defence Minister Brendan Nelson, Fisheries and Conservation, Minister Senator Eric Abetz, and Justice and Customs Minister Senator Chris Ellison, said today Operation Breakwater had been a highly successful, coordinated campaign. The two-week surge operation was staged in Australian waters off Cape Wessel in the Northern Territory and managed by the Joint Offshore Protection Command.

    

7. Embassy Probes Professor’s Death, Brendan Nicholson Age, 2006-03-31

   Australia’s embassy in Baghdad is investigating how an elderly professor of agriculture was shot by security staff. Professor Kays Juma was killed by a security guard from the Unity Resources Group, which is run by former Australian army personnel.

   • Security Companies Doing Business in Iraq, US Embassy, Baghdad

   • Unity Resources Group, home page

      

Austral Policy Forum: 06-11A: Fiji, the War in Iraq and the Privatisation of Security – Nic Maclellan

Australian journalist Nic Maclellan reports that over 1,000 Fijians are working in Iraq and Kuwait, as soldiers, security guards, drivers and labourers, and more than 2,000 Fijian soldiers in the British Army. “So far at least eight Fijians working in Iraq have been killed, with many others wounded. The official and unofficial Fijian deployments to the Middle East have been widely accepted in Fiji, because of the significant remittances flowing to rural villagers”. The employment of Fijian soldiers as mercenaries has brought new problems for the government of Fiji, and for its island neighbours as well, “with news in late 2005 that former Fijian Military Force soldiers were working in Bougainville”.

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