APSNet for 20070329
Austral Peace and Security Network (APSNet)
Twice weekly report from the Nautilus Institute at RMIT, Australia.
Thursday 29 March 2007
- White Paper: Nelson Calls for Update
- Inquiry into Australia’s Relationship with Malaysia
- Drone Passes Coastwatch Trial
- Indonesian Job Plan for Poachers
- Beijing Dives into Indian Ocean
- Philippines, Indonesia in Climate Crush
Austral Policy Forum 07-08A – The US – Australia Alliance: A Prospect of Change? – Coral Bell
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Nelson Calls for Update, Geoffrey Barker, AFR*, 2007-03-28
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has ordered an updated strategic policy guidance paper for public release before the federal election this year. There have been repeated calls for a new defence white paper to replace the current one, which was prepared in 2000. It is understood that Prime Minister John Howard is opposed to devoting extensive defence resources to the preparation of a full white paper.
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Australia’s National Security: A Defence Update 2005, Defence Department, 2005 [Primary Source, PDF]
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Australia’s National Security: A Defence Update 2003, Defence Department, 2003 [Primary Source, PDF]
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Defence 2000: Our Future Defence Force, Defence Department, 2000 [Primary Source, PDF]
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Inquiry into Australia’s Relationship with Malaysia, Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee Activities (inquiries and reports), 2007-03-26
The chapter on Australia-Malaysia security and defence ties includes: background and strategic imperatives, joint defence programme, five power defence arrangements, the Malacca Strait, strategic and officer-level dialogue, training and educational exchanges, military bases, military exercises and defence industry cooperation.
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Drone Passes Coastwatch Trial, Mark Dodd, Australian, 2007-03-27
The air force has moved a step closer to acquiring a $1.5 billion fleet of pilotless aerial vehicles following a glowing appraisal of their performance in tests off the northwest coast.
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North West Shelf Unmanned Aerial System Trial, Duncan Craig, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Division, Defence Science and Technology Organisation, DSTO-TR-1958, February 2007 [Primary source, PDF]
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New Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Capability, Press Release, Department of Defence, 2005-12-05
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Indonesian Job Plan for Poachers, Sarah Smiles, Age, 2007-03-29
The Federal Government views its policy of destroying ships as a successful deterrent, but Indonesia’s ambassador says alternative livelihoods for the fishermen need to be addressed. Fisheries officials from across South-East Asia met in Canberra to discuss the issue of region-wide illegal fishing.
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Navy Fires on Illegal Fishing Boat, APSNet Special Report, 2006-02-20
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Beijing Dives into Indian Ocean, Nick Hordern AFR*, 2007-03-28
At present, the US controls the Indian Ocean by virtue of its naval and air base on the central Indian Ocean atoll of Diego Garcia. The Chinese move into the Indian Ocean, however, presents a challenge of a different type. The Chinese Navy is unlikely to set up shop in Gwadar anytime soon. But already Indian commentators are asserting that Gwadar, like the naval bases in Burma, hosts a Chinese sigint collection facility.
* Subscription required.-
Real Significance of Gwadar Port, Masood Anwar, Pakistan International News, 2007-03-29
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Philippines, Indonesia in Climate Crush, AFP, Standard, 2007-03-28
Many of the world’s climate zones will vanish entirely by 2100 or be replaced by previously unseen ones if global warming continues as expected, new research shows. Asian nations, including the Philippines and Indonesia, are expected to be in the front line as rising temperatures force existing climate zones toward higher latitudes and higher elevations, squeezing out climates at the colder extremes and leaving room for unfamiliar climes around the equator.
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New Study Identifying Patterns of Change Affecting Global Biodiversity, Jack Williams and Stephen Jackson, Dept of Geography Uni of Wisconsin-Madison, March 2007
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Austral Policy Forum 07-08A: The US – Australia Alliance: A Prospect of Change? – Coral Bell
Coral Bell from the Australian National University writes that Australian Opposition leader Kevin Rudd’s foreign policy approach is not likely, “to do serious damage to the relationship with Washington, but the alliance might be challenged within the foreseeable future by quite a different factor in world politics.” “The next landscape of world politics” she argues, “which might be with us as early as 2010, will see six great powers share a central balance of power. And even perhaps a Concert of Powers. US strategic priorities will certainly continue to evolve, in line with the changing balance of power in the world. There does not seem to me much in that picture to threaten Australian security.”