Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Every Little, Helps.

Radio Australia (ABC) article regarding Fiji's MDG obligations were misconstrued (intentionally or not) by the article heading: "Fiji boasts it's ahead on UN MDGs" and conveniently glosses over the significance of the achievement and barely uses a snippet of the entire statement.

MDG Debate, statement by H.E. Mr. Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Civil Aviation of Fiji (UN video posted below):



Campbell Cooney, the ABC Pacific correspondent, finished off the radio segment with the following vindictive statement:

COONEY:
And while this summit is being held to look at MDGs, national politics have not been far from the surface. Since the 2006 coup Fiji has been criticised by UN members and other bodies for not keeping its promise to hold elections last year, and for scrapping the country's constitution.

The interim regime has said Fiji is not ready to return to democracy and that it won't be until 2014. Ratu Inoke might have been in New York to debate the Millennium Development Goals. But he was not missing the opportunity to promote the regime's position and also link those goals to its plans for Fiji's future.

What the Radio Australia web article did not bother to comment on, was the statement from Australia's nascent Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd who seemed to be nursing a back injury-a stabbing wound so to speak.

Although, Rudd had highlighted the usual diplomatic rhetoric on the benevolent qualities of the MDGs, used the heart wrenching narrative of a poor Soweto girl and an unnamed beggar boy.

In the same speech, Rudd swept the dismal report card on Australia's MDG obligations, under the proverbial rug (UN video posted below):



Rudd called on the richer and developed donor nations to assist in the eradication of poverty (as he termed "self-evident" truths) and outlined the intent of Australia to double its aid program by 2015; itemizing their sectors of interest coupled with the donation amount.

Rudd ended his speech quoting again from an unnamed child. This time a letter a girl from Australia and Rudd quoted her words ad verbatim. What Rudd forgot to mention, was that the letter the girl wrote (whom he quoted), was addressed to the Prime Minister of Australia.

Oddly enough, even Radio Australia did not draw attention to the final communique of the MDG summit.

The UN Summit regarding Millennium Development Goals (MDG), was held between 20-22 September 2010, New York, during the High-Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly.



Save Page As PDF Social Bookmarking
Add to: Digg Add to: Del.icio.us Add to: Reddit Add to: StumbleUpon Add to: Furl Add to: Yahoo Add to: Spurl Add to: Google Add to: Technorati Add to: Newsvine

Friday, July 20, 2007

Down Under Logic from Alexander Downer.


Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer has revealed a superior application of hypocrisy, in his latest interview reported by Radio Fiji.

This is the excerpt:


Fiji and Solomon Islands two major issues at the PFL meeting


AUSTRALIAN Foreign Minister Alexander Downer believes Fiji and Solomon Islands will be the two major issues at the Pacific Forum Leaders meeting in Tonga.

A Tongan Broadcasting Commission report carried by Pacnews says Downer told reporters in Tonga he didn’t think the Tongan situation was going to be at the forefront of the leaders' discussions.But, he said the Forum must focus on Fiji and Solomon Islands.

[Downer] said the reform process in Tonga was underway and there appeared to an emergence of consensus about where Tonga wants to go, Downer emphasised Tonga could not have foreigners come in to tell them exactly how to do this and that they had to do it themselves.


Obviously, Downer's comments seem to run against the grain, for Fiji and Solomon Island's case. If Tonga does not need foreigners to tell them how to run their monarchy, cloaked under the veneer of democracy; why can't Fiji or Solomon Islands be treated the same way.

Inextricably, these comical double standards of Australia and New Zealand, have placed their own foreign policies in the South Pacific, in an untenable position from a Melanesian perspective. It is certainly not surprising that China has been courted by Fiji and Solomon Islands, both of whom grown quite tired of this Nanny like diplomatic posture adopted by the ANZUS alliance; reflecting their dwindling influence in Melanesian regional politics.



AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Seed Newsvine

Digg!




Add to Technorati Favorites


Club Em Designs

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

And, Who'll Come a Waltzing Matilda With Me?

An astounding article from the Christian Science Monitor, reports that Australian Government has set loose soldiers to crack down on Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory of Australia.

"Federal troops arrived Wednesday to enforce tighter regulations on welfare payments and a ban on pornography and alcohol in Aboriginal communities."

However another article by "The Courier-Mail" reports that Australian troops in Iraq, have been ridiculed by US troops for avoiding bloody battles.

Unfortunately, the lack of Australian casualties in Iraq is not seen as much of a dent in the bravery of the soldiers, but highlights the increasing cowardice in the Australian civilian leadership.

What can be said of a nation's leader, who chooses to restrain the highly experienced soldiers in free-fire zones in Iraq, yet unleashes them on the civilian populace within Australian borders!














AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Seed Newsvine

Digg!




Add to Technorati Favorites


Club Em Designs

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Ab Absurdo Australis

Australia's meddling into the political affairs of Pacific island nations, has now received a stern rebuke by the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
China Post article dissects the news of this dispatched communique which included a statement of solidarity and support of Fiji's new interim Government.

An article by The Age newspaper title uses the word "Bully" in the title. In another opinion piece by The Age, reflects on the foreign policy and the diplomatic engagements designed by Canberra, which is described in the article as "lacking in imagination".

This is the excerpt of the article:

Our parlous region

January 13, 2007
Page 1 of 3 | Single page

Australia's policy in the South Pacific is obsessed with security concerns and market-driven solutions to theproblems of poorer nations, write Shahar Hameiri and Toby Carroll.

THE recent release of a commissioned progress report into the largest Australian-led state building program in recent history demonstrates the need for a qualitatively new approach to assisting the Pacific. After three years of extensive involvement through the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, the report paints a disturbing picture.

Although the security situation has thankfully improved under RAMSI, the same cannot be said for the economy, with Solomon Islanders suffering prohibitive prices for basic goods and low employment prospects.

Unfortunately, the Australian Government's approach to the Pacific region is constrained by a lack of imagination that does little to improve the development prospects of our neighbours or advance Australia's long-term security interests.

Indeed, not a day has gone by in the past year without news of political and social unrest in the Pacific. In some circles, the island states to Australia's north and east have acquired the dubious moniker of the "Arc of Instability".

Important questions relating to the nature of this instability, as well as to Australia's approach to ameliorating it, need to be raised. This is because the fundamental reading in Australia of the Pacific quagmire is biased in favour of promoting stopgap measures that are difficult to implement and, when implemented, can amplify the root causes of the problem.

Crucially, the Australian Government's short-term interests are with curbing immediate regional security threats in the form of migrant outflows, international crime and breeding grounds for terrorists.

In the long-term, the Government's plan is to stabilise the region and implement so-called "good governance" programs, which are seen as the bedrock of market-led development. Market-led development, in turn, is seen as generating stable societies, thereby guaranteeing Australia's security.

The short-term concern for stability goes some way towards explaining the Howard Government's recent decision not to intervene in Fiji after the military coup — preferring the use of diplomatic sanctions and other softer measures. In sum, the existence of a capable Fijian military, while detrimental to democracy, is congenial to Australia's immediate security interests, as perceived by the Australian Government.

In the Solomon Islands, the situation has been very different. In the Solomons, before the Australia-led intervention, no such circuit-breaker existed to control unlawful elements. This meant that the Australian Government had a more elemental interest in stabilising the security situation as a precursor to governance and economic reforms.

The problem with the Government's approach in the Pacific is that it almost never works. Even in the Solomon Islands, where the intervention was initially lauded as a great success, devastating riots and increasing tensions reversed this appraisal drastically, as the report suggests. In Fiji, where Australia is a leading donor, we also see the limits of "good governance" programs.

A report such as the RAMSI one can lead to knee-jerk reactions from those who are already sceptical of the utility of Australian aid. We should be clear that we do not advocate reducing or eliminating Australia's efforts in the Pacific. We do, however, argue for a qualitatively different framework.

Pacific states are geographically small and widespread, have limited natural resources and face significant environmental challenges — especially those associated with climate change.

The problems of the Pacific cannot be solved with the logic of comparative advantage, so critical to market-led development approaches. For example, in the Solomon Islands, deforestation has created massive social and environmental problems, making the industry unsustainable and divisive.

There are many possible policy alternatives to those being promoted by Australia and other major donors.

First, there should be a stronger shift away from "boomerang aid" that often ends up in the pockets of Western companies and consultants. Rather than playing a Keynesian-style role in developing local economies, this form of aid has very little impact on kick-starting domestic markets.

While critics might be concerned about corruption in the process of financial distribution, this should not preclude considering such policies in tandem with suitable checks and balances.

This is because corruption has both played a part in the development of Western economies and actually continues to play a role in promoting Western economic interests in developing countries. To focus on corruption as the primary cause for development failure is to miss the bigger picture.

A second measure has been endorsed by the Labor Party's foreign affairs spokesman, Robert McClelland, and the World Bank. This involves opening up Australia's labour market to temporary workers from the Pacific. At present, Australian employers in seasonal industries, such as agriculture and hospitality, cannot meet staffing demands. In the Pacific, on the other hand, we see a "youth bulge" and massive unemployment. In the Solomon Islands, for example, the median age is just under 19, whereas in Australia it is about 37.

The final policy option relates to a combination of tax concessions to promote Australian foreign direct investment in the Pacific, controlled transfer of technology associated with productive output, and preferential trading arrangements for Pacific states.

But preferential trading should not take the form of free trade agreements, which invariably give preference to the most powerful party.

New trading regimes should nurture budding industries and protect them from competition, where appropriate, within a regional framework.

The World Trade Organisation is a potential barrier here, but the present international trade regime is part of the problem that needs to be tackled.

Far from radical, some of the policies were flagged in 2003 by a report of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. But the report's recommendations have found little expression within Australian Government policy.

The present approach of the Australian Government is not only tight-fisted, it is inefficient in generating outcomes congenial to regional stability.

The debate on regional engagement needs to be expanded beyond its ideologically and politically constrained boundaries.

Shahar Hameiri and Toby Carroll research regional economic development and security issues at the Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University.




Club Em Designs