Semi-Weekly Bulletin

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.
*Subscription required

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.”
*Subscription required

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.
*Subscription required

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

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.

*subscription required

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.
* subscription required

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