UNITY
The national publication of the United Nations Association of Australia
September 12 , 2003 -- The United Nations - 1945-2003 UN58
Compiled from Federal parliamentary and other sources relevant to Australia's obligations to the United Nations
No 351 ISSN 1035-218X
Editor: Ian Mathews Ph: (02) 6281 4025 Fax (02) 6285 2529
Post: 4 Stone Place, Garran ACT
2605
E-mail: imathews@ozemail.com.au Earlier editions on website www.unaa.org.au/f-unity.html
[1] Government distributes anti-terror equipment
In a week in which appears to be regarded as the anniversary of the declaration of the "war on terror", the Australian Government has reinforced its determination to keep the issue at the top of its agenda. The Prime Minister, John Howard, has said it could last for as long as the Cold War - some 50 years.
The Australian Government has begun distributing to all States and Territories the first tranche of specialist equipment to strengthen Australia’s ability to deal with chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) incidents, including deliberate attacks.
The Attorney-General, Daryl Williams, says the Federal Government committed $17.8 million in the 2002-03 Budget over four years to enhance the capacity of all States and Territories to deal with the consequences of CBR incidents.
"Each State and Territory will receive equipment valued at about $900,000," he said, "... to ensure that Australia is in the best possible position to respond to any CBR attack or inadvertent CBR incidents.
The equipment includes chemical protection suits, specialist breathing systems, equipment to detect chemicals and radiation, and units to detect bio-terrorism agents through DNA analysis. Other support material includes high resolution digital still and video cameras for forensic investigation.
States and territories will be provided with $30,000 annually to assist with maintenance and repair of the equipment. The program will be reviewed at the end of the 2005-2006 financial year.
For more information, call the
office of the Attorney-General (02) 6277 7300
website: www.law.gov.au/ag
Australia’s international counter-terrorism response group held an exercise from September 8-12 to test the nation’s readiness to deal with a terrorist incident overseas involving Australians or Australian interests.
Defence Minister Robert Hill said the exercise was designed to gauge the effectiveness of procedures and policies put in place by the Counter-Terrorism Overseas Response Group.
The Australian and New Zealand Defence Forces were conducting a counter-terrorism military exercise concurrently with the Response Group exercise from September 8-12 at Defence Force bases in New Zealand.
The exercise scenario envisages the deployment of Australian tactical assets, supported by New Zealand tactical assets, in order to respond to an official request from a fictitious third country’s government for assistance with the resolution of an overseas terrorist incident involving Australian and/or New Zealand hostages.
The Counter-Terrorism Overseas Response Group was established in 1987 and draws on the expertise of the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Defence, Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Attorney-General’s as well as ASIO and the Australian Federal Police.
For more information, call the office of the Minister for Foreign Affairs (02) 6277 7500 e-mail: A.Downer.MP@aph.gov.au
Minister for Defence, Senator Robert Hill, (02) 6277 7800 e-mail: Senator.Hill@aph.gov.au
[2] Interdiction principles to be tested
Following the Proliferation Security Initiative meeting in Paris on September 2-3, Australia is leading the first in a series of maritime, air and land interdiction training exercises - "Pacific Protector" - in the Coral Sea from September 12 to 14.
According to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, these exercises are designed to bolster the international community's ability to stem the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The initiative follows threats by the United States to interdict North Korean vessels suspected of carrying such weapons as exports.
A key outcome of the Paris meeting was the adoption of a Statement of Interdiction Principles. Mr Downer said the principles clearly identify concrete actions for interdicting shipments of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery systems. They also bind participants to act within international and their own domestic law.
Participants reaffirmed the importance of involving as many countries as possible in the PSI to work in various capacities towards stemming the flow of WMD and their delivery systems. The PSI is a global initiative that seeks to develop ways to help impede the flow of WMD, their delivery systems and related materials to and from states and non-state actors of proliferation concern.
Participants comprise Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Previous meetings of the PSI were held in Madrid on June 12 and in Brisbane July 9-10. The next meeting of the PSI will be hosted by the United Kingdom in October.
The Principles are on the department's webpage at www.dfat.gov.au/globalissues/psi/index.html
For more information, call the
office of the Minister for Foreign Affairs (02) 6277 7500
e-mail: A.Downer.MP@aph.gov.au
.
[3] Opposition seeks to disallow some TPV rules
Labor's notice of disallowance to new regulations affecting temporary protection visa holders was tabled on September 9 in the Senate and will be debated early in October. In the meantime, Labor says it will negotiate with the Government to have some of the regulations separated from the ones it objects to..
Opposition spokesperson on immigration, Nicola Roxon, said in an interview on September 9, "We don't believe that when the Minister's current powers are under serious question that he should be seeking to give himself even more power. Labor is going to oppose these regulations. ...
"There is a Senate Inquiry in place at the moment where the Minister's discretionary powers are being looked at very seriously. There have been questions that have been raised about favouritism, influence and much more and now he wants to extend these powers even further. Labor is just not going to have a bar of that.
"What he is seeking to do is to extend the existing temporary protection visa system to a bigger group of people and he as the Minister will be the only person who will be able to grant this new category of people with permanent protection. He is also giving himself more power to vary the times of visas that people are granted with. ..."
She said there were some positive parts to the regulations and the Opposition would be asking the Government to separate out those parts of the regulations. These included the removal of a seven-day rule, introduced several years ago, which meant that if people seeking to come to Australia spent more than seven days in another country along the way, that they would not be able to make a claim in Australia.
"The Minister's regulations change that for about 2,500 people, but they keep it in place for everybody else and everyone else in the future," Ms Roxon said. "We don't support that part of the regulation and we are going to be moving to disallow the entire regulation. ..."
"Labor's policy is that if you are given a Temporary Protection Visa, you should only be given one once, and after that you should be assessed as either being entitled to permanent protection or being able to be returned home. The Government is not doing that. ... What the Minister is seeking to do with these new regulations is say that everyone who makes an on-shore application can only ever have temporary protection. If they want to get permanent protection he will be the sole decider over whether someone will get the right to stay in Australia or not. ..."
The Australian Democrats Leader, Senator Andrew Bartlett, said that Labor’s rush to play politics on the issue of refugees, meant they were sacrificing more than 2,400 legitimate refugees currently on temporary protection visas.
"Instead of working with the Democrats to prevent Government moves to change Australia’s protection regime – making us the only country in the world that imposes temporary protection on all asylum seekers no matter how they arrive in Australia – the Labor Party has taken a stand which runs the risk of effectively sacrifice the immediate futures of 2400 refugees." Senator Bartlett said on September 11.
For more information
Opposition spokesperson on
immigration, Nicola Roxon MP (02) 6277 2039 or (03) 9687 7355
e-mail: Nicola.Roxon.MP@aph.gov.au
Leader of the Australian
Democrats, Senator Andrew Bartlettt (02) 6277 3645 or (07)
3252 7101
e-mail: senator.bartlett@aph.gov.au website: www.democrats.org.au
Minister for Immigration's office (02) 6277 7860 website: www.immi.gov.au
See also UNity 349 August 29, 2003 www.unaa.org.au/f-unity.html
Objections to Temporary Protection Visa changes
The Refugee Council of Australia views the package of regulations that changed the law with respect to Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) as a very mixed bag, with some welcome inclusions and others that are of great concern. While noting that there are some positive elements in the Regulations announced on August 28 the Refugee Council is strongly opposed to the package. It calls on the Senate to support a Disallowance Motion and calls for the introduction of a new regulation that incorporates that which is positive about the regulation and extends this to have a real impact on undermining the most deleterious aspects of the TPV regime.
The package announced by the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural affairs on August 28 rules:
- all successful onshore applicants for refugee status will henceforth be granted a temporary rather than permanent protection visa, irrespective of their mode of arrival;
- TPV holders who were granted their visa before September 27, 2001 but did not apply for a further protection visa will no longer be subject to the "7-day Rule" test;
- family members who arrived at different times will be able to have their applications considered as a group;
- the opportunity has been opened up for certain groups of temporary humanitarian visa holders to apply for protection.
RCOA says positive aspects are:
Approximately 2,400 refugees whose TPV was granted before the introduction of new laws in September 2001 will receive permanent protection if they are successful at their second application, but the "7-day Rule" will still apply to refugees granted their visa after September 27 2001 and believes this rule is inherently problematic and is destined to result in increased litigation.
The lifting of the bar for the Kosovars and Ambonese who were holders of Temporary Humanitarian Concern Visas (subclass 786) which allow them to lodge applications for refugee status but urges the introduction of administrative complementary protection measures (see RCOA Position Paper on Complementary Protection).
The provision for family members who arrived at different times to have their applications for further protection considered together.
The Refugee Council of Australia has long opposed the use of TPVs for Convention refugees on the grounds that:
the Temporary Protection Visa regime, in so much as it denies access to certain entitlements, is in breach of Australia’s obligations to refugees;
the requirement that refugees undergo periodic re-examination of their status as refugees is contrary to international practice and the spirit of the Convention and leaves the refugees in a state of nervous limbo in which healing of past trauma is severely prejudiced;
the denial of basic services is preventing refugees from participating in the Australian community and is condemning many to a life of dependency;
the failure to allow family reunion is causing immeasurable anguish to the refugees in Australia and their families overseas and is potentially placing family members in highly dangerous situations;
the creation of a social underclass has the potential to impact negatively on the wider community; and
the regime recreates a system that was discontinued in the past because of its manifestly unsatisfactory character.
For the Refugee Council’s expanded views on the TPV regime, see the Council’s Position Paper on Australia’s Use of Temporary Visas for Convention Refugees. August 2003. www.refugeecouncil.org.au
For more information, call RCOA (02) 9660 5300 e-mail: info@refugeecouncil.org.au
***
The Romero Centre’s safety net of support for 400-500 refugees on temporary visas is still collecting donations at the Romero Centre Box 6115 Buranda, Qld 4102 For more information ph: 07 3393 2500 or e-mail: "Frederika Steen" frederika@myrealbox.com
The President of the Refugee Council of Australia, David Bitel, called on the Australian Government on September 10 to end the suffering of Iraqi refugees by lifting the freeze on the finalisation of the processing of their applications for ongoing protection.
Unlike most applicants for asylum, the Iraqis have already been classed as refugees but were granted visas that lasted for only three years and required them to reapply if they wished their protection to be extended. The first of the three-year Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) expired in late 2002. Processing did not, however, commence because it was determined that the situation in Iraq was too unstable.
He said the events in recent weeks, not least the bombing of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad and the bombing of the mosque in Najaf which killed over 80 people, confirmed that the situation of instability is likely to remain for some time. International troops had shown themselves powerless to control the activities of insurgents and may well face an even greater challenge if tensions between rival groups boil over in the wake of the bombings.
The Refugee Council had become deeply concerned about the individual and collective suffering of the Iraqi TPV community. "We see despair and mounting levels of frustration and anger," Mr Bitel said. "The only thing that will release this tension is for the processing to proceed to finalisation. If Iraq is unstable, this should be acknowledged by the decision-makers and the refugees granted further protection."
For more information, call David
Bitel (02) 9286 8700 or RCOA executive director Margaret
Piper 0405 144 099
e-mail: info@refugeecouncil.org.au
***
Abu Quassey, a self-proclaimed people smuggler of Egyptian nationality, who in 2000-2001 organised unauthorised boat voyages from Indonesia to Australia for Middle Eastern refugees, goes on trial in Egypt on September 13 for the manslaughter of 350 people on the boat now known as SIEV X ("suspected illegal entry vessel, unknown") that sank on October 19 2001.
According to human rights campaigner and former Australian Ambassador to Poland and Cambodia Tony Kevin, Quassey is alleged to have grossly overloaded this 19-metre boat by force with the help of 30 armed Indonesian police, sending it out to sea with 421 passengers on board with the clear intention that it sink - as a brutal signal to deter other asylum-seekers wanting to reach Australia.
When this boat sank in international waters between Java and Australia's Christmas Island, some 60 miles south of the Sunda Strait, 353 people drowned including 146 children and 142 women. Only 45 people survived, 38 of whom have since found permanent refuge, mostly in Northern European countries and Canada. Seven survivors are in Australia, but only on temporary protection visas.
Mr Kevin says. "This trial in Egypt, scheduled to start on 13 September, is a rare opportunity to establish full judicial accountability for a great crime against humanity - in respect of Abu Quassey himself, and in relation to his shadowy official protectors and supporters. ... Under the Australian Government's punitive anti-boat people visa regulations, there was no legal way these separated families could ever be reunited. The tragedy of SIEV X is also an Australian tragedy. It needs to be laid decently to rest, by a process of full judicial disclosure. Hopefully the trial in Egypt will be a first crucial step to this".
For more information, call Tony Kevin (02) 6295 6588 or e-mail tonykevin@webone.com.au.
website: www.sievx.com/
[6] UN Human Rights Committee upholds complaint
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has again upheld a complaint that Australia’s policy of mandatory detention of asylum seekers is in breach of international human rights law.
The complaint relates to a 27 year old Iraqi national, Mr B, and his 5-year-old son, who arrived in Australia in June 1999 and were held in the Villawood and Port Hedland Detention Centres for two years before escaping in June 2001.
Mr B complained that his mandatory detention was "arbitrary", in that he and his son were detained by the Australian Government without any consideration of their individual circumstances. During this time, they were forcibly removed from Villawood to Port Hedland when a hunger strike was broken up by the Villawood guards, and it was alleged that they were held in an isolation cell in Port Hedland for eight days, during which time they were refused access to their lawyers.
The Human Rights Committee, which in this case consisted of 13 international lawyers, decided by a majority of 12-1 that the detention of Mr B and his son was in breach of Article 9(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Committee criticised Australia for failing to consider the hardship that prolonged detention had caused to Mr B’s son. It also found that Australia should have considered less invasive means of achieving compliance with Australia’s immigration policies, such as the imposition of reporting obligations, sureties or other conditions.
For more information, call the United Nations Information Centre, Sydney (02) 9262 5111 e-mail: unic@un.org.au
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is convening a Day of General Discussion on the Rights of Indigenous Children as part of its forthcoming session on September 19
Dr William Jonas AM, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, has made three submissions to the Committee relating to the following themes to be considered at the Day of Discussion:
- Issue 1: Identity and culture;
- Issue 2: Non-discrimination and equality;
- Issue 3: Law and public order, including juvenile justice.
To access the submission visit the International Issues section of the HREOC Website at:
www.humanrights.gov.au/social_justice/internat_develop.html
Details on the day of discussion are available online from: www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/crc/
[7] Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Iraq?
The Institute for International Law of Peace and Humanitarian Law of the Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany, has prepared a paper in which it says the recent ending of the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein raised the debate on the necessity of the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Iraq.
The principal question is which crimes should be taken into consideration? Should it cover those committed during the First Gulf War against Iran, the Second against the United Nations (UN), United States-led intervention, or the Third against the Anglo-American Coalition? Should it also cover crimes committed against the Kurds, the Shiites, and the Sunnites? Furthermore, can Iraqi civil society, which appears to be deeply divided between the different ethnic groups cited above, enter a commission-style process?
The paper goes on to say that such a Commission would need the leadership of someone with unquestionable moral standing. The South African TRC’s credibility was carried by the outstanding moral stature of Nelson Mandela (who initiated it) and Archbishop Desmond Tutu (who chaired it).
For a copy of the paper, BOFAXE 258-E, contact "Noelle Quenivet" noelle.quenivet@ruhr-uni-bochum.de at Ruhr-Universität Bochum Tel: + 49234/3227366, Fax: + 49234/3214208.
New Resolution still coming: The United States draft for a new UN Security Council Resolution designed to share the burden of post-war Iraq with more countries outside the invading and occupying "coalition of the willing" and under some form of UN endorsement has not yet met with approval by Security Council members. France, Germany and Russia have proposed amendments to the US resolution on Iraq that would give political control in Iraq to the United Nations and interim Iraqi leaders but would allow the United States to remain in control of the multinational peacekeeping force. France has indicated it might veto the proposal in which the US retains full military and much civil and political control of Iraq.
[8] Swedish foreign minister murdered
Messages of condolence have followed the murder of the Swedish Foreign Minister, Anna Lindh, on September 10 when stabbed while shopping.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, said "I knew Anna personally and considered her to be a good friend of Australia. Looking back to the UN office bombing in Baghdad on 19 August, and the death of Sergio de Mello, I now have lost two good friends in the world of diplomacy in less than a month. The world is poorer for the loss of these people."
Mr Downer said that when they met at the United Nations, "Anna was a great advocate of the many issues on which Australia and Sweden closely cooperate, including disarmament and arms control, human rights and environment issues."
Ms Lindh was 46 and is survived by her husband and two sons.
For more information, call the office of the Minister for Foreign Affairs (02) 6277 7500 e-mail: A.Downer.MP@aph.gov.au
Swedish Embassy in Canberra (02) 6270 2700 fax (02) 6270 2755 e-mail: sweden@netinfo.com.au
Kevin Magee has been appointed Australia's Consul-General in Guangzhou. He will replace John Courtney who has been Consul-General since December 1999. Mr Magee is expected to take up his appointment in December 2003.
Mr Magee is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is currently serving as Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission in Moscow. He has served as First Secretary in Singapore (1994-97) and Third Secretary in Beijing (1990-92). He was also a United Nations Disarmament Fellow based in Geneva and New York and joined the 47th Australian Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in October 1992.
In Canberra, Mr Magee held the position of Director, China Economic and Trade Section (2001), and Director, China Bilateral Relations Section (2000).
Tim George will take up his position of Ambassador to Israel on September 30. His appointment was announced in July. He replaces Ross Burns who has been Ambassador since July 2001. Mr George's most recent posting was as Ambassador to Spain and Andorra.
For more information, call the office of the Minister for Foreign Affairs (02) 6277 7500 e-mail: A.Downer.MP@aph.gov.au
[9] Kofi Annan backs expanded Security Council
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for expanding the membership of the Security Council to make the 15-member body more democratic and more representative and thus give it greater legitimacy, especially in view of recent divisions over Iraq.
At a news conference on September 8 at which he launched his latest progress report on goals set in 2000 at the United Nations Millennium Summit, Mr. Annan noted that UN membership had almost quadrupled since the world body was founded nearly 60 years ago and yet the structure of the Council had not changed since its first day, with five permanent members with the right of veto - China, France, the Russian Federation, United Kingdom and United States - and 10 members elected for two-year terms from the various regions of the world.
He declined to be drawn into specifics on who the new members should be, who should be permanent members with the right of veto and who should be elected for specific terms, and what regions should be represented.
He said, "Yes, it implies expansion of the membership of the Council and allowing other regions and other groups to be represented on the Council. We started with 51 Member States and we are now 191 Member States.
"Yes, we are an organisation of sovereign States, but the structure of the Council has not changed and I think it is about time that we took the reform very seriously. It will entail expansion in membership.... It could be increase in permanent membership as well as in ordinary, elected membership."
Noting that discussion of Security Council reform had been going on for more than a decade, Mr. Annan said: "But I think that in the current climate lots of leaders have been concerned about the state of the international peace and security architecture and would want to see something done about it. I think that the Iraqi crisis brought this to the fore. .."
Full text: www.un.org/news for September 8
or call the United Nations Information Centre, Sydney (02)
9262 5111 e-mail: unic@un.org.au
Millennium goals retreating for some
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said on September 8 that disagreements over addressing threats to international peace and security were jeopardising the Millennium Development Goals.
The Millennium Development Goals, agreed to at the Millennium Summit in 2000, including halving extreme poverty by 2015, providing universal primary education and reducing child mortality.
"Events have shaken the international system," Mr Annan said. "I am not even sure whether the consensus and the vision that the Millennium Declaration expressed are still intact" with governments "sharply divided about some of the most fundamental issues."
While there is agreement that there are new threats, "we don't seem to agree what exactly they are, or how to respond, or even whether the response should be a collective one," Mr Annan said during a news conference launching his annual report to the General Assembly. This year's report is entitled Implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration.
Mr Annan makes a distinction in his report between "hard threats" - meaning terrorism and weapons of mass destruction - and "soft threats," including poverty, HIV/AIDS and hunger. "It is the soft threats that affect most of the people of the world," he said, "therefore we should focus on those essential threats."
Mr Annan wrote that progress in meeting the goals was uneven. "Rapid advances in some areas have shown that the goals, while ambitious, clearly can be reached at the global level. They are still achievable at the national level for nearly every country, even though progress towards them is at present very uneven, with wide variations across regions, across countries, and even within countries.
"The bottom line is that on current trends some parts of the world risk falling well short of most of the MDGs in 2015.. ... There is therefore a clear need for political leaders to take urgent action, over the coming year, to avoid further setbacks and accelerate progress."
Source: Jim Wurst of UN Wire
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The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, has suggested a role for United Nations Associations around the world as UN information communicators..
In his report to the United Nations General Assembly on Questions Relating to Information (UN Documents A/58/175), paragraph 35, states:
"With the support of the Foreign Ministry of Austria, the Department [of Public Information] held a regional meeting of directors of United Nations information centres and services in Western Europe from June 14 to 16 near Vienna. The meeting provided a useful opportunity for an exchange of views between staff of the Department of Public Information at Headquarters and in the field with a number of outside guests on how to manage the transition from the concept of regionalisation to its implementation. Those efforts will continue.
"Regarding its partnership with civil society organisations, the Department plans to discuss with the World Federation of United Nations Associations on how those associations will assume some of the functions currently carried out by the information centres at the national level."
The European United Nations Associations, as well as representatives from the Department of Public Information, will meet in October in Geneva to discuss the closure of Information Offices. Mr.
Shashi Tharoor, the Under-Secretary for Communications and Public Information, who visited Australia earlier this year, will attend the meeting convened by Ms. Bruna Faidutti, the Director of WFUNA-Geneva.
For more information, contact WFUNA Geneva, Palais des Nations, Geneva Tel: +41 22 917 32 39
Fax: +41 22 917 01 85 e-mail: wfuna@unog.ch website: www.wfuna.org/
The Third Article XIV Conference on Accelerating Entry-Into-Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) was held in Vienna from September 3-5 at which a statement was presented by a coalition of non-governmental organisations, including IPPNW and MAPW.
For a text of the NGO Statement on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) for the Third Article XIV Conference on Accelerating Entry-Into-Force, contact Giji Gya, Executive Officer, Medical Association for Prevention of War Mob: 0413 594 717 Fax: 03 9427 7920 e-mail: giji.gya@mapw.org.au website: www.mapw.org.au
[11] Senate concerns over 'private water'
The Greens motion calling on Australian representatives at this week's WTO ministerial meeting at Cancun, Mexico to resist moves to force water privatisation and liberalisation on member countries of the WTO was passed on September 9 in the Senate.
Senator Kerry Nettle, who moved the motion, said; "The WTO negotiations pose a real threat to Australia's ability to manage its own scarce water resources as well as the threat to developing countries' ability to guarantee access to drinkable water for vulnerable populations. ..."
The Greens oppose the General Agreement on Trade in Services, and reaffirm the right of governments to provide essential public services, including water, for the collective benefit of their citizens. The motion call on the Government to " Instruct the Australian negotiators at the WTO Ministerial in Cancun, Mexico, this week to reject any pressure for Australia to enter into a GATS commitment to liberalising Australian water services."
The motion recognised "the global scarcity of water, and particularly clean drinking water, as a serious threat to the health and well-being of people, particularly in developing countries, and to support the initiatives of the WHO, UNEP, and UNCTAD, to improve sustainable water."
For more information, call Jon Edwards in Senator Nettle's office 0428 213 146 or e-mail: senator.nettle@aph.gov.au
[12] Sex Discrimination amendments
The Federal Government will further entrench its poor record on women’s issues if it fails to support Democrats’ amendments to improve anti-discrimination legislation relating to women in the workplace.
Australian Democrats’ Status of Women spokesperson, Senator Natasha Stott Despoja, said her amendments to the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Pregnancy and Work) Bill 2002 will prevent more effectively discrimination against women on the basis of pregnancy or potential pregnancy.
"The Government’s Bill simply clarifies existing provisions of the Act. While this is welcome it falls well short of sufficiently addressing the ongoing discrimination women experience in the workplace," she said.
"It is a disappointing response to the significant HREOC report, "Pregnant and Productive: It’s a right not a privilege to work while pregnant".
The report made 12 recommendations relating to the Sex Discrimination Act, but the Government has only attempted to implement three of these.
Senator Stott Despoja said, ""The Democrats will seek to incorporate most of the outstanding HREOC recommendations, including: extending the coverage of the Act to federal statutory employees, judicial office holders and members of parliament; extending coverage to unpaid workers; protecting employees who intend to, or are in the process of, adopting a child; and, allowing the Sex Discrimination Commissioner to refer discriminatory awards or agreements to the AIRC without the requirement of a written complaint.
"We will move amendments to allow women to take breastfeeding breaks and breaks to express milk; encourage workplaces to provide places for mothers to breastfeed and express milk; and, encourage workplaces to provide the necessary facilities for the storage of breastmilk. ...I will also seek to have paid maternity leave incorporated into the Bill, reflecting the Private Member’s Bill I introduced last year.
For more information, call Senator Natasha Stott Despoja (02) 6277 3200 or (08) 8232 7595 e-mail: senator.stottdespoja@aph.gov.au
Federal Sex Discrimination Act anniversary: The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission is calling for ideas to help celebrate 2004 as the 20th anniversary of the federal Sex Discrimination Act 1984. Ideas and suggestions to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Sex Discrimination Act should be sent to SDA20thanniversary@humanrights.gov.au
[13] National Interest analyses on treaties
Recent National Interests Analyses recently tabled in Parliament include:
Protocol concerning the Bougainville Transition Team, allows Australia to continue to be part of the Peace Monitoring Group which is working closely with United Nations observers who are scheduled to withdraw from Bougainville at the end of 2003. The Protocol entered into force on June 30 without the usual 20 tabling days but the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties was informed of the urgency to allow Australian members of the Bougainville Transition Team to be deployed on June 30.
Agreement between Australia and Belgium to allow the spouse and certain other family members of Australian diplomatic and consular officials serving in Belgium and their counterparts serving in Australia, to be employed for the duration of the officer's tour of duty.
Agreement between Australia and Belgium on "working holidays" which will allow Australian and Belgian nationals between the ages of 18 and 30 to remain in the other country for holidays and, if they wish, to work subject to certain conditions. Usually such agreements take the form of a Memorandum of Understanding but under the constitution of Belgium such an arrangement has to be subject of a treaty.
For more information For more information, call the office of the Minister for Foreign Affairs (02) 6277 7500 e-mail: A.Downer.MP@aph.gov.au
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Publications reviewed by Ian Mathews
[14] How Australian foreign policy is made
Making Australian Foreign Policy by Allan Gyngell and Michael Wesley is a timely text book and guide to a rapidly changing art. Australia's foreign policy used to be decided in Whitehall. Many would now say it is dictated in Washington. This book examines the increasingly complex process by which Australian foreign policy evolves at both the bureaucratic and political levels.
Allan Gyngell is executive director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy and Michael Wesley is Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of NSW.
The authors view foreign policy "as a set of activities that takes place across four distinct levels: the strategic, the contextual, the organisational and the operational." They examine the input and influence of a whole range of players outside the traditional Foreign Affairs base. Their observations include case studies of the Cambodian Peace Settlement, the Developing Regional Architecture of the APEC Leaders' Meetings; and the foreign policy impact of the Bali Bombings.
The authors note that some strategic policy settings are continuous, membership of the United Nations for instance, but note that Labor emphasised multilateralism and a focus on Asia while conservative governments have placed more emphasis on bilateral engagement. Labor has also used Australia's UN obligations under international law to influence domestic policy on the environment and human rights.
Given ministerial criticism of the UN, some might dispute the authors' choice of the UN as the prime international organisation affecting Australia's foreign policy, ahead of the World Trade Organisation, the International Monetary Fund, ASEAN and others. However, nobody would dispute that key nations within those organisations, such as the US, have significant influence on Australia's attitude. Another factor in the primacy of the UN in Australia's foreign relations is simply the rapid increase in the number of UN member-states, up from 51 in 1945 to 191 today.
The role of Non-Governmental Organisations in international affairs is acknowledged as an influence on foreign policy. The authors note that some NGOs critical of government policy still attract government funding. They perhaps were unaware of the increasing propensity of the present government not to fund or to threaten to reduce funding to critical organisations. UNAA currently receives no funding from the Federal Government.
For more information about Making Australian Foreign Policy [ISBN 0 521 53997-8] call Cambridge University Press, Melbourne (03) 8671 1407 e-mail: egilmour@cambridge.edu.au website: www.cambridge.edu.au
Howard's War by Alison Broinowski is a diatribe - the word being used in its purest form of "a dissertation directed against some person or work; a bitter and violent criticism." As an academic, former diplomat and journalist, Alison Broinowski has marshalled solid arguments as to why Prime Minister John Howard's personal policy of joining the US in a pre-emptive invasion of Iraq was against Australia's interests.
No doubt other authors will rebut some of her arguments but few will be able to gainsay her opening contention that the adventure was contentious, initially unpopular, a follow-my-US-leader decision, an abandonment of international law and norms, and that the whole episode was based on false reasons.
She examines three broad areas in this short book of 138 pages: why Australia went to war; why the US went to war; and the consequential damage done to Iraq and the international community. Broinowski's book does not pretend to be a historian's assessment of past events. This is a running commentary on a current situation and as such will attract its detractors. She does, however, provide a point of departure for the long-term debate that must follow what has been, so far, a war of aggression in which Australia was a willing and enthusiastic participant.
Apart from the inevitable human tragedy of deaths and destruction, Broinowski points out significant damage was done to the English language in spinning how this war was one of "liberation", "a pre-emptive act of defence", an "act of humanity" and Mr Howard's own contribution of "a peace mission". She canvasses the far-reaching effects on Australia of Howard's war as it relates to the UN, to the rule of law or rather the breaches of it and the diminution of respect for it.
For more information about Howard's War [ISBN 0 908011 99 7] call Scribe Publications Pty Ltd, Melbourne (03) 9349 5955 e-mail: scribe@bigpond.net.au website: www.scribepub.com.au
UNICEF Innocenti Publications annual review [ISBN 88 85401 88 0] outlines the work of the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre's program of improving international understanding of issues relating to children's rights and to help implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The booklet covers such issues and projects as the Social Monitor, Child Friendly Cities Initiative; monitoring the impact of economic and social policies on children's rights; public policy and child well-being and HIV/AIDS research; child trafficking, understanding children's work; and other related issues.
UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre CD-ROM guides readers through the Centre's research programs as well as providing background information on the centre's projects and publications. It contains:
- an off-line version of the IRC website;
- an off-line version of the publications' catalogue;
- pdf files of the centre's major publications; and
- the TransMONEE database 2001.
UNICEF's Social Monitor 2003 reviews recent socio-economic trends in 27 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States on topics relevant to other parts of the world. These include:
- Economic Growth, Poverty and Long-Term Disadvantage
- Intercountry Adoption: Trends and Consequences
- Confronting HIV?
- Infant Mortality
Other titles in series from UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre include:
- Public Policy and Social Conditions No 1
- Crisis in Mortality, Health and Nutrition No 2
- Poverty, Children and Social Policies No 3
- Children at Risk in Central and Eastern Europe No 4
- Education for All No 5
- Women in Transition No 6
- Young People in Changing Societies No.7
- A Decade in Transition No 8
Social Monitor 2002: Social Trends in Transition No 1
For more information about the review, Social Monitor and the CD-ROM contact UNICEF International Research Centre, Florence, Italy ph: + 39 055 203 30 fax + 39 055 244 817 e-mails: florence@unicef.org for publication orders: florenceorders@unicef.org website: www.unicef-icdc.org
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology is extending its links with Pacific island countries to improve their forecasting capabilities especially in the areas of storm forecasting, seasonal climate forecasting and other severe weather forecasting. This is part of a $2.2 million AusAID funded project. The Bureau has been training weather forecasters from Pacific countries for the past five years. Three of these are now operating in Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.
For more information, call the office of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Dr Sharman Stone (02) 6277 2016 or (03) 5821 5371 E-mail: S.Stone.MP@aph.gov.au
Australia will help Indonesia it is first direct presidential election in 2004. The Australian Electoral Commission will also assist in parliamentary elections at national, provincial and district level in April, 2004. A $2.9 million package will help continue a bilateral program of assistance with the Indonesian Election Commission, which will involve training programs and a centre to compile unofficial Indonesian election results, similar to Australia's National Tally Room in Canberra.. Australia will contribute $8 million to a multilateral trust fund for voter education and election monitoring.
For more information, call the office of the Minister for Foreign Affairs (02) 6277 7500 e-mail: A.Downer.MP@aph.gov.au or AusAID on (02) 6206 4960 www.ausaid.gov.au
Torres Strait Protected Zone Joint Authority annual report 2000-1 (ISSN 0819-1050 published 2003) is produced under the Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1984 and covers the geographic area between the tip of Cape York and Papua New Guinea which includes extensive coral reefs at the northern limit of the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef. The 1985 Torres Strait Treaty, between Australia and Papua New Guinea, aims to protect the environment including fish stocks.
Published by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, the report is available from its offices at 22 Brisbane Avenue, Barton, ACT 2600.
[17] High Court celebrates 100 years with conference
The High Court of Australia is celebrating its centenary with a conference examining a wide range of the Court's activities and roles including a session on human rights, international standards and protection of minorities.
The conference, to be held at various venues in Canberra, will discuss:
The Court in Australian Society - speakers include Chief Justice of South Australia, Justice John Doyle; Professor Leslie Zines and Dr Helen Irving;
The Court, Government and the Nation - speakers include Chief Justice of Victoria, Justice John Phillips, Professor Brian Galligan, Professor John Henningham.
The Break with the UK and the Internationalisation of the Common Law - speakers include Chief Justice of WA, Justice David Malcolm, Sir Anthony Mason, Lord Bingham of Cornhill.
The Jurisprudence of the Court - speakers on Indigenous People include the Chief Justice of the NT, Justice Brian Martin, Chief Justice of Canada, Justice Beverley McLachlin; Noel Pearson.
Criminal Law and the criminal process - speakers include Chief Justice of the ACT, Justice Terence Higgins, Chief Justice of New Zealand, Dame Sian Elias, Justice Mark Weinberg.
Federalism and Federation - speakers include Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia, Justice Michael Black, Professor Cheryl Saunders, Professor George Winterton.
Torts - speakers include Chief Justice of NSW, Justice James Spigelman, Professor Stephen Todd, Professor Jane Stapleton.
Contract and commercial law - speakers include Chief Justice of Tasmania, Justice William Cox, Professor Tony Duggan, Professor Deborah de Mott.
Judicial Review of Administrative Action - speakers include Chief Justice of Queensland, Justice Paul de Jersey, Queensland Solicitor General Pat Keane, Professor Peter Cane.
Human Rights, International Standards and the Protection of Minorities - speakers include Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia, Justice Alistair Nicholson, Sir Gerard Brennan, Professor Hilary Charlesworth.
Equity and resolution - speakers include Sir Daryl Dawson, Dr Joachim Dietrich, Dr Simon Evans.
For more information call the conference secretariat (07) 3236 2477 fax (07) 3236 1180 e-mail: mail@austbar.asn.au
Nominations for the 25th United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Awards closed on September 9. Awards will be presented in four general categories: Television, Radio, Print and a new category of Photo-journalism; and in five special categories: Aboriginal Reconciliation, Multicultural Issues, Women's Rights and Issues, Positive Images of the Older Person and the Environment.
The Media Peace Awards which celebrate their 25th anniversary this year were initiated as a national program of the United Nations Association in 1978. They recognise reportage in the Australian media which enhances understanding and awareness about humanitarian and social justice issues, and promotes values of co-operation and mediation, rather than conflict and violence.
Information: www.unaavictoria.com.au or by contacting the UN Association of Australia on 03 9482 3655. Winners will be announced in Melbourne at a gala dinner on United Nations Day, Friday, October 24.
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