Semi-Weekly Bulletin

The Austral Peace and Security Network (APSNet) Semi-Weekly Bulletin covered critical national and regional security issues, broadly understood, in Australia and the surrounding region. Archives from 2005 until 2010.

APSNet, Semi-Weekly Bulletin

APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, March 13, 2006

  1. Defence Budget Fears
  2. China Rise The Focus Of Rice Talks
  3. Citizen To Terrorist A Quick Step: ASIO Chief
  4. Indian Nuclear Deal an Explosive Issue
  5. Lawyer Fears for ‘Tortured’ Australian
  6. All Clear For Uranium Sales To Chinese
  7. Thales (France) Plans Takeover of Australia’s Largest Defence Manufacturer
  8. Ambassador Scolds Pro-Papua Mob
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APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, March 9, 2006

  1. Credentials the Cost of Nuclear Sell-Out
  2. ‘Don’t Let Treaty Be Barrier to Atomic Power Payoff’
  3. It’s Not Necessary to Go All the Way with the USA
  4. Troops to Stay On in Iraq and Police Go to Sudan
  5. A Real Plan for Warming
  6. Maritime Security Deal Signed
  7. Group Takes Aim at Fishing Pirates
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APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, March 6, 2006

  1. PM Ready To Re-Examine Uranium Policy
  2. Bush Counters China through New Best Friend
  3. Helping Allies Is Key to Defence: Nelson
  4. ADF Signs Up For Giant Cargo Plane
  5. Customs Aircraft Cut But Go Hi-Tech
  6. More Soldiers Join Strike Over Military Conditions In East Timor
  7. Indonesia Says No Police Reinforcements for Papua Mine
  8. New Defence Capability Development Manual 2006
  9. Australians in Guantanamo Bay: The Detention of Mamdouh Habib and David Hicks
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APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, March 2, 2006

  1. Missile Purchase to Upset Region
  2. Kopassus Troops Train in Australia
  3. Papua Travel Ban Halts Abuse Scrutiny: Envoy
  4. Mystery of How Vessel Was Lost
  5. Navy Figures Highlight Illegal Fishing Patrol Clashes
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APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, February 27, 2006

  1. Papuan Backlash Closes Gold Mine
  2. Best Defence Seen As Mix of Regional and Global Strategy
  3. PM’s Foreign Faces
  4. Nelson’s Clear Eye On Law
  5. Corruption Undermines Aceh Tsunami Aid
  6. Mass Mutiny Hits E Timor Army
  7. US Tries To Avoid Iraq Civil War
  8. Cutting Edge: The Collins Experience
  9. Avian Flu ‘To Come In From PNG’
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APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, February 23, 2006

  1. 200 More Troops for Afghanistan
  2. Relief for Stretched Hercules to Cost $2b
  3. Defence Papers for Cole Inquiry
  4. Nelson Tells Military to Cut Court Fights with Personnel
  5. AIDS Threat in PNG of African Levels, Warns Downer
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APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, February 20, 2006

  1. PM Slams ‘Jihadist’ Muslims
  2. Seduction of Dr Nelson
  3. Xanana, SBY Let Shame File Slide
  4. Conflict Dogs Papuan Peace Chance
  5. Indonesia Caught In Moral Panic
  6. Does Tokelau Really Have A Future?
  7. Some SDF Members May Stay After Iraq Pullout
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APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, February 16, 2006

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

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APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, February 13, 2006

  1. 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.

  2. 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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  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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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  7. 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.

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APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, February 9, 2006

  1. Hell of a Holiday Destination
  2. The Looming Conflict Over West Papua
  3. US Remarks Draw Unfriendly Fire
  4. The Ominous New Pact
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