Semi-Weekly Bulletin

ADF Shuns Used Gear After Bungle On Choppers,
Brendan Nicholson, Age, 2006-02-16

Long delays and serious problems with a $1 billion contract to rebuild a fleet of 1960s helicopters for the navy have driven the Australian Defence Force to swear it will never again buy second-hand equipment.

New Iraq Role Ahead,
Patrick Walters and Peter Alford, Australian, 2006-02-14

Australian troops will stay in Iraq, most likely in training roles, after the expected wind-up of the al-Muthanna task group later this year. A scaled-down Australian ground force in Iraq is likely to be matched by a steady build-up in Afghanistan where about 500 Australians could be stationed by later this year.

Bird Flu Threatens Misery For Millions,
Peter Hartcher and John Garnaut, SMH, 2006-02-16

Avian flu could kill up to 214,000 Australians in a serious global outbreak according to a new projection by Professor Warwick McKibbin and Dr Alexandra Sidorenko. The findings will be presented at the Lowy Institute in Sydney.

• Global Macroeconomic Consequences Of Pandemic Influenza, Warwick McKibbin and Alexandra Sidorenko, Lowy Institute, February 2006

• A Primer On The Macroeconomic Effects Of An Influenza Pandemic, Steven Kennedy, Jim Thomson and Petar Vujanovic, Treasury Working Paper, February 2006

Briefing note: Australia, Japan and Southern Blue Fin Tuna

Japan Taking ‘Illegal’ Tuna , Verity Edwards, Australian, 2006-02-11
Hagen Stehr [Chairman, Clean Seas Tuna Ltd] has called on Canberra to impose sanctions on Japan in a crackdown against international poachers. A spokesman for federal Fisheries Minister Eric Abetz said the Government was aware of the discrepancies between international quotas and what appeared on the Japanese fish markets.

• Endangered Tuna Catch To Be Halved, AAP, Age, 2006-01-10

• The Facts: Southern Bluefin Tuna, CSIRO Marine Research

• Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery, Australian Fisheries Management Agency

• Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery: Environmental Assessment, Department of the Environment and Heritage, 25 January 2005

• Tasmanian Endangered Tuna Push, Port Lincoln Times, 2006-02-09

• ‘Death By Sashimi’: The Survival Of The Southern Bluefin Tuna, Richard Tanter, Arena Journal, New Series 14, 1999/2000.

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