Archives

Vanstone Refuses To Return Papuans,
Tom Allard, SMH, 2006-01-20

Indonesia’s hopes for 43 Papuan asylum seekers to be returned have been scuttled by the Minister for Immigration, Amanda Vanstone, after she said no consideration would be given to foreign relations in the assessment of their claims. Indonesian officials were allowed brief contact with the asylum seekers. The asylum seekers were then flown to a detention centre on Christmas Island.

West Papua Killing ‘Not Linked’ To Boat People,
Andra Jackson, Age, 2006-01-23

The Indonesian embassy yesterday ruled out a link between the shooting of a boy in West Papua on Friday and the arrival in Australia last week of 43 West Papuan asylum seekers. Nick Chesterfield, from the Australian West Papua Association, said a pastor who is related to three of the asylum seekers was visited by Kopassus intelligence officers and police in Paniai yesterday morning.

Of related interest:
Indonesian soldiers shoot four Papuans, killing one – report, Radio New Zealand International, 2006-01-20

One Of The Last Liberal Liberals,
Geoffrey Barker, AFR*, 2006-01-23

Robert Hill’s strategic doctrine did not convince, but he was a good choice as Defence Minister. He challenged but could not defeat the regional defence-of-Australia focus of national strategic policy by insisting doggedly that defence of distant interests should matter as much as the defence of adjacent territory.

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A Land Of Fading Promise,
Richard Woolcott, Age, 2006-01-21

Hubris and arrogance are diminishing Australia and our reputation around the world.

MP Warns Against Sabotaging ECPII,
PNG Post Courier Online, 2006-01-23

Any person who tries to sabotage or grumble about the ECP(Mark II) will be severely dealt with, says Police Minister Bire Kimisopa. He said the challenge was for the PNG police to express reservations about their involvement with the Australians, saying he did not know about these until after the Australian officers had left the country, after the certain issues of the ECP (Mark I) was ruled unconstitutional.

Of related interest:
PNG, 30 Years On, Tim O’Connor, NewMatilda.com, 2005-08-31

Special Report: As Policy Leaders Ponder Australian Options

Grid-locked: North Korea Needs Energy. But can the parties negotiating a solution to the nuclear crisis come up with a viable way to plug in the North? By Peter Hayes, David von Hippel, Jungmin Kang, Tatsujiro Suzuki, Richard Tanter, and Scott Bruce January/February 2006 pp. 52-58 (vol. 62, no. 01) © 2006 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Various countries not represented at the Six Party Talks on the North Korean nuclear issue are developing options to engage the DPRK should the talks progress. The authors analyse the leading South Korean energy engagement strategy, and find that it falls short of what is needed to support nuclear disarmament in North Korea, namely, projects that are cheap, fast, replicable, and rely on markets or nimble non-governmental organisations to deliver immediate tangible benefits to the DPRK that can be synchronized with sequential dismantlement steps.

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

Boat People To Test Jakarta Ties,
Tom Allard and Andra Jackson, Age, 2006-01-19

The Howard Government faces a potential new flashpoint in relations with Jakarta after 43 asylum seekers from the troubled Indonesian province of West Papua landed by boat at Cape York. It is only the third boat of asylum seekers to reach the Australian mainland in four years. By reaching the mainland, they are automatically eligible to apply for refugee status.

Coastguard Patrols End After Deaths,
Michael McKenna, Australian, 2006-01-14

Austalia’s immigration boats have not patrolled the Torres Strait for three months after the ‘Malu Sara’ sank with the loss of five lives. Immigration officials confirmed the fleet is impounded indefinitely after testing found them unseaworthy. The boat was launched by Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone on August 29 2005. It was one of six new Immigration vessels for the region.

Of related interest:

a. Operation Relex II – Australian Border Protection
The Australian Defence Force operation contributes to the whole of government program to detect, intercept and deter vessels carrying unauthorised arrivals from entering Australia through the North-West maritime approaches. Operation Relex II includes units from all three services and supports Coastwatch and Customs.

b. Coastwatch – Operations
The civil surveillance program is comprised of both wide area planned (WAP) surveillance and tactical surveillance operations.

Freeport Says It Paid Indonesia US$1 billion since 2004,
Bloomberg, 2006-01-17 (Jakarta Post)

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. paid Indonesia about US$1 billion since 2004, including for security at the Grasberg mine that has sparked a U.S. government inquiry, Chief Executive Officer Richard Adkerson said.

Of related interest:

a. Divide and who rules? Ethnic nationalism under siege in West Papua, Richard Chauvel, Inside Indonesia Apr-Jun 2004

b. The complex story of Freeport Denise Leith, The Politics of Power: Freeport in Suharto’s Indonesia, University of Hawai’i Press, Honolulu, 2003, review by David Tonkin

Gusmao To Hand Report To UN,
AAP, Age, 2006-01-19

East Timor’s ambassador to the United Nations says his country is unlikely to seek the prosecution of Indonesian military officers accused of widespread human rights abuses in a UN report. A leaked copy of the report includes claims the Indonesian government and military were responsible for the deaths of up to 180,000 East Timorese during a 24-year occupation of the former Portuguese colony.

Of related interest:

a. Media Misrepresentations Of The CAVR Report,
Patrick Walsh, CAVR Special Advisor, JSMP, 2005-05-26
This report refutes misunderstandings that resulted from publication of leaked versions of limited sections of the report. Walsh writes: ” CAVR’s estimate of the minimum total number of conflict-related deaths is 102,800 (+/- 12,000). This figure includes both killings and deaths due to privation. The figure of 183,000 is CAVR’s upper-bound estimate of total conflict-related mortality”. Walsh describes the methods used to gain these figures.

b. East Timor’s Troubled Road, Jeff Kingston

c. Masters of Terror: Indonesia’s Military And Violence In East Timor in 1999

_ Online database

_ Richard Tanter, Gerry van Klinken and Desmond Ball (eds.), Masters of Terror: Indonesia’s Military and Violence in East Timor in 1999 (second edition, forthcoming from Rowman and Littlefield)

_ The Unique Contribution Of The Community-Based Reconciliation Process In East Timor, Fausto Belo Ximenes, JSMP, 2004-05-28

Australia-US Alliance

America: The Cost Of Alliance,
John Langmore, Age, 2006-01-09
There are major political, financial, and military costs from Howard’s closeness to the Bush Administration and his Government’s imitation of American ideology and policies. These positions restrict Australia’s capacity to express its own international priorities, have weakened Australia’s independence and its standing with regional neighbours and at the UN. The issue is not whether to retain or renounce the US alliance. Rather, the immediate issue is about the policies adopted and advocated by Australia within the alliance.

Spooky Tales In Land Of Bungles Bungles,
Tony Walker, AFR*, 2006-01-13
When Foreign Minister Alexander Downer flew into Washington this week for a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice he gave the impression that this represented a discussion between two participants in a successful joint venture in Iraq. Nothing could be further from the truth. Downer’s talks with “Condi” – as if a cloying familiarity signals a dialogue of equals – were conducted against a background not only of bleak news from Iraq, where casualties continue to spike, but also amid latest revelations about the extent of US incompetence in Iraq. A reality check is in order.
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Why The US Alliance Is A Good Deal,
Michael Fullilove, Age, 2006-01-16
The benefits of the alliance outweigh its costs – resoundingly so. The alliance contains the promise that the United States would protect us from a major strategic threat. It provides a rare level of access to US defence technologies and, in particular, the products of its intelligence agencies. It brings us influence on – or at least access to – the global hegemon. America’s wrong-headed misadventure in Iraq does not wipe out the credit it deserves for the provision of international public good since the close of World War II – or, indeed, for the security contribution it makes now.

N Korea Seeks To Restore Relationship,
John Kerin, Australian, 2006-01-18

North Korea has urged Australia to help bring it in from the diplomatic deep-freeze, with an appeal to Canberra to resume training of its industrial and agricultural scientists. A rare public submission by Pyongyang to a parliamentary inquiry into Australia’s relationship with the Koreas, says the projects have been “quite beneficial” to economic development. A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said the Government wanted to see North Korea make real progress on dismantling its nuclear weapons before any further expansion of ties was considered.

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

PM Pledges $100m To Help Climate,
AAP, SMH, 2006-01-12

The six nations attending the the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate summit said they would set up eight task forces covering renewable energy, power generation, cleaner fossil fuels, and coal mining. Greenpeace and the NSW Nature Conservation Council say the pledge lacks the courage and urgency needed on climate change.

Of related interest:

Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, DFAT

Asia-Pacific 2005: The Ecological Footprint and Natural Wealth, Global Footprint Network and WWF

What Should We Believe?
Marian Wilkinson, SMH, 2006-01-14

Hidden evidence over Mamdouh Habib’s torture claims suggests the Australian Government suppressed critical facts in the case and repea tedly misled the public.Documents on the case, requested by the SMH under freedom of information law, have been released to the paper heavily censored. Some raise serious questions about a government cover-up.

Soldiers Given More Reasons To Shoot To Kill On Home Soil,
Jonathan Pearlman, SMH. 2006-01-09

SOLDIERS will have their powers to shoot to kill on domestic soil extended to threats in the air and attacks against infrastructure under a widening of the Federal Government’s capacity to “call out” the Australian Defence Force.

Watch On Asian Security,
Deborah Cameron, Age, 2006-01-14

AUSTRALIA plans to identify the weakest links in security at Asian airports by stationing a roving team of transport experts in Singapore.

Jindalee Radar Boosts BMD,
Martin Sieff,Washington DC (UPI), SpaceWar.com, 2006-01-11

Australia is continuing to develop its over-the-horizon Jindalee radar network that will now play a major role in the U.S. ballistic missile defense network.

Of related interest:

Jindalee Operational Radar Network

Development of Over-The-Horizon Radar in Australia

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