1. White Paper First Step in Defence Rethink
2. Police, ASIO Review after Court Debacle
3. Dutch Accused of Complicity in Torture in Afghanistan
4. Combined Force Kills Militants, Detains Foreign Fighter Facilitator in Afghanistan
5. Philippine Defense Secretary Pushing for Filipino-Australian Military Drills
6. AFP to Raise Armoured Unit
7. 113th Human Bird Flu Case in Indonesia
8. Fish Vanishing from Southeast Asian Ocean

1. White Paper First Step in Defence Rethink, Mark Davis, Sydney Morning Herald, 2007-11-13

   Labor would commission a new defence white paper to decide on the fundamental strategy for the years ahead and would then consider changes to the Australian Defence Force to reflect the new doctrines. But it would also keep the Coalition’s promise to increase defence spending by 3 per cent a year in real terms until 2016, a formula that locks in spending increases of over $1 billion a year.

   • Defence Centre Promise, Age, 2007-11-14
   • Labor’s Plan for Defence, Election 2007, Policy Document, Kevin Rudd, Joel Fitzgibbon, Alan Griffin, November 2007 [PDF]

2. Police, ASIO Review after Court Debacle, Tom Allard, Sydney Morning Herald, 2007-11-15

   The Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty, yesterday flagged a wide-ranging inquiry into the practices and co-operation of the federal police and ASIO as counter-terrorism authorities deal with a crisis of public confidence following the debacle of the ul-Haque case. The unprecedented investigation comes on the heels of an announcement yesterday by the intelligence watchdog, Ian Carnell, that he will use his powers – akin to those of a royal commission – to examine the misconduct of at least two ASIO officers.

3. Dutch Accused of Complicity in Torture in Afghanistan, Vanessa Mock, Radio Netherlands, 2007-11-13

   Dutch forces in Afghanistan have been accused of exposing their detainees to torture and flouting international obligations. Amnesty International says troops from NATO’s ISAF mission in the country are handing over detainees to Afghan authorities, despite consistent reports that these are using methods such as whipping and beatings against inmates.

   • NATO Aware of Prisoner Abuse in Afghanistan, General Says, DW-World.DE, Deutsche Welle, 2007-11-144
   • Afghanistan Detainees Transferred to Torture: ISAF Complicity? Amnesty International, ASA 11/011/2007, 2007-11-13
   • Detainee policy – Afghanistan and Iraq, Australia in Afghanistan, Nautilus Institute
   • Coalition forces: Netherlands, Australia in Afghanistan, Nautilus Institute

4. Combined Force Kills Militants, Detains Foreign Fighter Facilitator in Afghanistan, Xinhua, 2007-11-14

   Afghan government troops and the U.S.-led Coalition forces have killed a large group of Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province and detained a foreign fighter facilitator in the neighboring Zabul province, the Coalition said. Afghan National Security Forces and Coalition forces engaged and killed a large group of insurgents near the Deh Rawod District of Uruzgan province on Tuesday, said a statement released by the Coalition late Tuesday night.

   • Oruzgan Province, Australia in Afghanistan, Nautilus Institute
   • Bases – Coalition forces: Netherlands, Australia in Afghanistan, Nautilus Institute

5. Philippine Defense Secretary Pushing for Filipino-Australian Military Drills, Xinhua, 2007-11-11

   Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro appealed to the Senate to ratify a bilateral agreement which will pave the way for the conduct of huge-scale military exercises between Filipino and Australian forces. The SOFA would provide the legal fragment that sets down the rights, responsibilities and procedures to support activities between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Australian Defense Forces such as training and military drills in each other countries.

   • Status of Forces, Australian Forces Abroad, Nautilus Institute

6. AFP to Raise Armoured Unit, Cameron Stewart, Australian, 2007-11-07

   The Australian Federal Police plans to have its own fleet of armoured vehicles to send to hotspots around the globe by late next year. But the AFP denies the move will transform it into a paramilitary force, saying the new so-called “protected armoured response vehicles” will not be mounted with guns or other weapons. Instead the armoured fleet will be used to protect AFP officers from attacks while deployed on peacekeeping missions in areas of civil unrest such as the Solomon Islands and East Timor.

7. 113th Human Bird Flu Case in Indonesia, UPI, 2007-11-13

   Indonesian authorities Monday announced a new death from human infection with the avian influenza virus H5N1, the 91st person to die from the disease there. The Indonesian Health Ministry announced the fatality was a 31-year-old male from the Bengkalis District in Riau Province.

   • UK Confirms H5N1 Bird Flu Strain, Andrew Jack, Alex Barker, Fiona Harvey and Reuters, Financial Times, 2007-11-13

8. Fish Vanishing from Southeast Asian Oceans, Reuters, 2007-11-07

   Southeast Asia’s oceans are fast running out of fish, putting the livelihoods of up to 100 million people at risk and increasing the need for governments to support the maintenance of fish stocks, an Australian expert said. Fisheries in the region had expanded dramatically in recent decades and Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines were now in the top 12 fish producing countries in the world, Meryl Williams said in a paper for Australia’s Lowy Institute.

   • Enmeshed: Australia and Southeast Asia’s Fisheries, Meryl J. Williams, Lowy Institute, November 2007 [pdf]
   • John G. Butcher, The Closing of the Frontier: A History of the Marine Fisheries of Southeast Asia, 1850-2000, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2004

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