Archives

PM: Troops To Stay In Iraq,
AAP, SMH February 2006-02-12

Australian troops could remain in Iraq beyond the expected withdrawal of the Japanese engineers they were sent to protect, Prime Minister John Howard says. Australia’s 460-member Al Muthanna Task Group is in southern Iraq protecting the Japanese contingent, thought to be returning home in May.

US Alliance Overlooks Asia,
Geoffrey Barker, AFR*, 2006-02-13

Keeping troops in Iraq would run counter to Australia’s long-term interests. The next US administration is unlikely to embrace the neo-conservative Bush doctrines, and the next Australian government will find itself increasingly having to balance relations with the US, China and Japan. Pressing on in Iraq is no way to start that process.

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Investigation Launched Into Faulty Defence Equipment,
Michael McKinnon and Cameron Stewart, Australian, 2006-02-13

An investigation has been launched into the Defence Department unit charged with equipping Australian soldiers amid allegations of defective equipment and conflicts of interest. Internal Defence documents, obtained under FOI laws, revealed a range of problems.

• Enemy Is In Canberra, Say Diggers, Michael McKinnon and Cameron Stewart, Australian, 2006-02-13

Spies In Dark On Kickbacks: PM,
Cath Hart, Australian, 2006-02-13

The Prime Minister revealed the Office of National Assessments (ONA) was in the dark on the kickbacks. ONA, which provides the Government with analysis of international developments based on intelligence, diplomatic reporting and public material, did not make available any reports about AWB’s dealings with Saddam, Mr Howard said.

• Spy Agencies Had Eye On Payments, Says AWB Officer, Marian Wilkinson, SMH, 2006-02-09

• Treasury raised the alarm on kickbacks, Marian Wilkinson, SMH, 2006-02-13

CSIRO Muzzles Climate Scientists,
Tracy Ong, Australian, 2006-02-13

Three of the CSIRO‘s top climate change experts were repeatedly gagged from talking about cutting greenhouse emissions by an increasingly censorious organisation worried about continued government funding.

Briefing note: Volcker Inquiry, Cole Inquiry And The Oil-For Food Program

The UN Oil-For-Food Program: Who Is Guilty?, Brian Urquhart, New York Review Of Books* 53:2,2006-02-09
The Volcker report is certainly the most detailed and searching inquiry every undertaken. In the Inquiry Committee’s words, “This very large and very complex Program accomplished many vital roles in Iraq – Responsibility for what went wrong with the Program cannot be laid exclusively at the door of the Secretariat. Members of the Security Council must shoulder their share of the blame in providing uneven and wavering direction in the implementation of the program.”

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• Inquiry into certain Australian companies in relation to the UN Oil-For-Food Programme (Cole Inquiry)

• Independent Inquiry Committee into the U.N. Oil-for-Food Programme (Volcker Inquiry)

• Summary of the Report of the Independent Inquiry Committee into the U.N. Oil-for-Food Programme (Volcker Inquiry).pdf

• The Management of the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme (five volumes), Definitive Report by the Independent Inquiry Committee into the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme. Paul A. Volcker (Chairman), Richard J. Goldstone (Member), and Mark Pieth (Member). 2005-09-07

• Manipulation of the Oil-for-Food Programme by the Iraqi Regime Paul A. Volcker (Chairman), Richard J. Goldstone (Member), and Mark Pieth (Member) 2005-10-27.pdf

Briefing note: New Zealand’s Role in International Electronic Surveillance

Spies Are Our Hidden Heroes, Warren Tucker, The Dominion Post, 2006-01-31 New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau director Warren Tucker defends the organisation after a top-secret intelligence report from 20 years ago showed New Zealand had been spying on friendly countries.

• Lange’s Secrets, Helen Bain, Sunday Star Times (NZ), 2006-01-15

• Officials Seek Ban After Secrets Gaffe, Helen Bain, Sunday Star Times (NZ), 2006-01-22

• NSA’s Worldwide Appetite, Bill Arkin’s Early Warning blog on the Washington Post

• Government Communications Security Bureau, New Zealand Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet

• Eavesdropping 101: What can the NSA do? ACLU.pdf

• Secret Power – New Zealand’s Role in the International Spy Network, Nicky Hager, Craig Potton Publishing, 1996

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?

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.
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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

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.

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.

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.”
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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.

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.
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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

Rift Looms Over Fate Of Papuan ‘Refugees’,
Russell Skelton, Age, 2006-01-29

Australia and Indonesia are headed for a diplomatic crisis over the 43 West Papuan asylum seekers whose claims of persecution now appear likely to be recognised. Australian immigration authorities have ruled them “in” as potential refugees. They will now be formally interviewed and their claims processed. A final determination on their status is not expected for several months.

Of related interest:

Indonesia Increases Military Presence In Papua, Hamish Fitzsimmons, ABC online, 2006-01-26
The Indonesian military has been boosting its numbers in the province of Papua. Rev. Socratez Sofyan Yoman, Chairman of the West Papua Baptist Church, says Indonesian tanks have been patrolling the streets of the provincial capital Jayapura.

Helping Out The Pacific,
Editorial, SMH, 2006-01-30

A Government report says several Pacific economies’ survival depends on urgent action including opening up Australia’s job market. Nauru, Tuvalu and Kiribati are closest to collapse, PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are in need. Tonga, Cook Islands and Samoa are more stable, as they have access to labour markets in NZ and the USA. This is only part of the picture. Time for a proper debate.

Of related interest:

Small Loans Scheme to Keep Pacific States Afloat, Cynthia Banham, SMH, 2006-01-28
Australia should set up a Pacific development trust for lenders to travel to island communities and offer small loans to villagers starting their own businesses, Labour’s new foreign aid policy says.

Background Papers, Pacific 2020, AusAid, Dec 2005 These background papers provide the framework and content for the final Pacific 2020 report (available May 2006).

Nuclear-Test Workers Demand France Change Its Attitude,
Tahiti Presse, 2006-01-30

Public debate over the effects of nuclear testing in French Polynesia has revived as a result of a leaked French Polynesia Assembly Committee report (due out 9 February). “France blocked the inquiry committee by not allowing permission to go to Moruroa and Fangataufa” said Roland Oldham, president of the Moruroa E Tatou Association of former workers on the nuclear tests.

Of related interest:

Commission of Inquiry into the Consequences of Nuclear Testing in the Air from 1966 – 1974 in French Polynesia, press release, CDRPC (in French)

Stay Cool On China, US Told,
Geoff Elliott, Australian, 2006-01-30

Mr Richardson, former head of ASIO, said Beijing was occupied with internal issues, indicating that the US should be more worried about China’s boom collapsing than its military rise. “The question for Australia is not whether China’s growth is innately good or bad; China’s growth is unambiguously good for Asia and the United States.”

Australia’s New Man Has Big Boots To Fill,
Fran O’Sullivan, New Zealand Herald, 2006-01-28

Allan Hawke, retiring Australian High Commissioner for NZ, said the Aus-NZ relationship could “go one way or the other – in defence, in trade “. But he has not broken the stranglehold against open discussion of: bilateral defence ties; potential for a trilateral relationship between NZ, Australia and the USA; and for NZ to join the US and Australian-dominated Partnership for Climate Change.

US Carrier Loses Jet,
AAP, Australian, 2006-01-30

Nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan lost a jet fighter during training exercises 400km southeast of Brisbane. US officials confirmed the F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter ditched into the sea while attempting a night landing on the flight deck. The pilot ejected safely but the $37 million jet was unlikely to be retrieved, officials said.

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

Defence In Shambles: Beazley,
AAP, Australian, 2006-01-25

Defence minister Robert Hill left the portfolio in a shambles, with overseas troop commitments taking greater priority than domestic security, said Labour. “[The government] is not succeeding in replacing our F-111s and F/A-18s” said Mr Beazley, who also called for a revival of the coastguard debate.

Of related interest:

a. Does Asia Matter to Australia’s Defence Policy, Paul Dibb, The Public Record, ABC Online, 2002-10-23

b. Transformation or Stagnation? Rethinking Australia’s Defence, Alan Dupont, The Menzies Research Centre Ltd, 2002

c. Grand Strategy, National Security and the Australian Defence Force, Dr. Alan Dupont, Lowy Institute, 2005

d. Rethinking the Defence of Australia, Paul Monk, Austhink, 2003

e. The Howard Government’s Defence White Paper: Policy, Process and Politics, Graeme Cheeseman, Australian Review of Public Affairs, July 2001

PNG: New Threat To Enhanced Cooperation Programme,
PINA, 2006-01-25

After Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock flew into Port Moresby for talks with the government, it was announced that an Australian would be appointed Solicitor General and assisted by three senior litigation lawyers. Yesterday, Western province governor Dr Bob Danaya, an avid critic of the ECP, raised questions about the legality of appointing an Australian to the key post in the Justice Department.

Of related interest:

a. The ECP and Australia’s Middle Power Ambitions, Alan Patience, State, Society And Governance In Melanesia Project, ANU, Discussion Paper 2005/4

b. Clever People Solving Difficult Problems – Perspectives on Weakness of State and Nation in Papua New Guinea, Anthony J. Regan, State Society and Society in Melanesia Project Working Paper No. 2, ANU, 2005/2

c. Human Rights Overview – Papua New Guinea, Human Rights Watch 2006
The police routinely use violence, including torture, against individuals in custody. This summary focuses on police violence against children and does not offer a comprehensive survey of human rights conditions in the country.

Army Base Expansion Approved,
AAP, Australian, 2006-01-24

The Federal Government has approved the acquisition of land close to the Cultana training area in S.A. Leaseholders and local indigenous groups have been informed of the decision. The training centre, used by Army units for manoeuvre and weapons training, will triple in size, making it one of Australia’s largest military training areas.

Of related interest:

a. Major SA Defence Training Area a Step Closer, The Hon. Teresa Gambaro, MP Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence, Media Release, 24 Jan 2006, PARLSEC1/06

b. Major Defence Training Precinct Planned For SA, The Hon. Senator Robert Hill, Minister for Defence, Media Release, 23 Jun 2005, MIN100/05

c. Infrastructure/Cultana Training Area, South Australia – The Defence Industry Choice, SA Defence, 2004

d. Upper Spencer Gulf: Defence Location of Choice, Upper Spencer Gulf Common Purpose Group
A collaborative venture between the cities of Port Augusta, Port Pirie and Whyalla

Poor Report Card On Environment,
Wendy Frew, SMH, 2006-01-26

Australia has failed to commit adequate resources and effort towards environmental protection and is trailing other developed nations in providing its citizens with clean water and sustainable energy, a study by researchers at Yale and Columbia universities says.

Of related interest:

a. Pilot 2006 Environmental Performance Index
Access to immediate statistics

b. Pilot 2006 Environmental Performance Index.PDF
Full report

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