News Stories – 9 February 2007
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released the first part of its Fourth Assessment Report, which demonstrates the seriousness of climate change with temperatures projected to increase by 1oC-6.3oC by 2100. Projected sea level rise has been downgraded from previous IPCC reports to between 18-59cm by 2100. Further chapters, to be released through the year, will provide greater detail on projected impacts and potential economic instruments for mitigation.
Australia welcomes the release of the first part of the IPCC's fourth report ("Physical Science Basis"), over 30 Australian scientists contributed to the report.
IPCC findings underscore the seriousness of climate change, further demonstrating that the Kyoto Protocol, which does not engage major emitters, will not deliver the environment outcomes needed.
Under Kyoto global emissions are set to increase 40 per cent to 2010 as opposed to 41 per cent without Kyoto.
Australia is leading practical international technology cooperation with key emitters China, Japan, India, the United States and South Korea through the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (AP6).
Australia has already committed some $2 billion to practical domestic efforts:
- making crucial technology investments through the $500 million Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund, including supporting the world's largest capture and storage project;
- introducing a Mandatory Renewable Energy Target to underpin more than $3 billion in renewable energy spending by 2010;
- supporting solar innovation through the $75 million Solar Cities project; and
- reducing emissions by providing incentives to farmers to avoid land-clearing - with already 1.3 million tonnes worth of emissions saved.
As a result of these measures, Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2010 will be 87 million tonnes per year less than business as usual.
Multilaterally, we will keep pushing for a more effective response that engages all major emitters, and we aim to meet our own Kyoto target through national measures alone.
Australian Government contributes $8 million towards Islamic Studies
The Australian Government recently committed A$8 million to support the establishment of a National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies. The Centre will be hosted by a consortium of Australian universities comprising the University of Melbourne, the University of Western Sydney and Griffith University in Brisbane.
The Australian Government’s decision to provide support to establish the centre was made after consultation with Australian Islamic religious leaders, Muslim community leaders, members of the higher education sector and members of the wider Australian community.
The centre will provide university accredited undergraduate and post graduate courses, which will advance knowledge and understanding of Islam.
Courses will be delivered on campus in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and eventually across Australia via distance education.
The universities involved will build upon the funding provided by the Australian Government and establish, over time, a world-class facility with a specialist focus on the study of Islam and associated subjects.
For more information please see: www.dest.gov.au/highered/nceis
Australia committed to ensuring quality education for international students
Australia continues to be one of the world’s most popular destinations for international students. The Australian Government is committed to ensuring that international students receive a high quality education. Over the past 18 months the Australian Government has enhanced the Education Services for Overseas Students legislative framework to provide even greater protection for international students and ensure that existing high standards are maintained.
The Australian Government continues to work with universities to ensure that the quality of our $10.1 billion international education industry, our fourth largest export, is maintained.
Australia is one of the few countries in the world where safeguards designed to protect international students are based on legislation.
The Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act 2000 includes a National Code that allows the Government to monitor quality issues and ensures institutions maintain high standards of education and that students visa requirements are met.
The standards in the National Code apply equally to public and private universities and cover issues such as teaching staff qualifications, facilities and specialist equipment.
Ongoing checks and controls by Commonwealth and State and Territory governments, higher education institutions and professional bodies also ensure high standards are maintained.
Dozens of countries use the Australian quality assurance system as a best practice model.
Australian universities are self-accrediting institutions and are responsible for the quality of the courses they offer and the degrees they confer.
They are responsible for ensuring that international students have a sufficient level of English language ability to be able to complete their course of study. The onus is on universities themselves to ensure that appropriate standards are met at the commencement of, and throughout a course of study. Australia has an international reputation for best practice in accreditation, qualifications recognition, and quality assurance and student consumer protection.
News Stories - 2 February 2007
First APEC meetings held in Canberra
Australia’s year as host of APEC 2007 forum made a good start with the successful staging of the first series of officials’ meetings in Canberra from 15-26 January. Some 1,000 officials attended the meetings.
Senior Officials set a solid platform to progress work in 2007, focusing on key issues identified by APEC Leaders in Hanoi last year, including:
- regional economic integration;
- structural economic reform;
- energy;
- APEC reform; and
- laying the groundwork for achieving strong outcomes when Leaders meet in Sydney in September.
Senior Officials reaffirmed support for the Doha Round as APEC’s top priority.
They also agreed a way forward to report to Leaders on ways to further promote regional economic integration, including the possibility of a Free Trade Agreement in the Asia Pacific as a long-term goal.
Australia’s economic and trade performance received a positive assessment by an experts report as part of the Individual Action Plan review process.
A number of other APEC committees and experts’ groups also made positive starts to their work programs in the Canberra meetings.
The Economic Committee chaired by New Zealand is looking at ways to share best practice on structural economic reform issues including competition policy, regulatory policy, public sector management and governance, corporate governance and strengthening economic and legal structures.
The Counter Terrorist Task Force and Health Task Force also set work programs for 2007 to progress their well-defined agendas.
Australia looks forward to a positive contribution from all APEC member economies to the policy agenda for 2007.
Australia joins calls for the resumption of the Doha Round
At the World Economic Forum in Davos on 28 January, the Minister for Trade, Warren Truss, joined Trade Ministers from 25 key countries in calling for the resumption of full negotiations in the Doha Round, which had been suspended in July 2006. This positive move has since been endorsed by the full membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva.
The call for the resumption of the Doha Round is a welcome development and offers a glimmer of hope that it might be possible to conclude the Round this year.
Also encouraging is President Bush's recent announcement that he will seek reauthorisation from Congress of the Trade Promotion Authority, set to expire 30 June.
However, there is still a very tough job ahead if the Doha Round is to reach a successful conclusion in 2007.
There is still no breakthrough in agriculture, the key element needed to conclude the negotiations.
The recent bilateral contact between the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) is welcome and Australia is hopeful that it will help move things in the right direction.
Australia will continue to push for a strong result in meetings with other countries.
At Davos, Mr Truss met with Ministers from the US, the EU, Brazil, Japan, and with the WTO Director-General, among others. These discussions were followed up in Washington, where Mr Truss met with the US Secretary for Agriculture and members of Congress.
Australia will continue actively to convey that the only package Australia will support is one which delivers new commercial opportunities for our exporters in each of the core areas of the negotiations - agriculture, industrials, and services.
Australia signs the World Wine Trade Group Agreement on wine labelling
On 23 January Australia’s Trade Minister, Warren Truss, together with representative from “new world” wine producing countries including the United States, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand and Canada, signed the Agreement on wine labelling in the margins of the World Wine Trade Group (WWTG) meeting hosted in Canberra. The Agreement will help to reduce production costs for Australian wine producers and make it easier to compete in overseas markets.
The Agreement will allow individual wine producers to develop a common label - standardising the presentation of certain information such as product name, content volume, percentage of alcohol and country of origin - acceptable in all WWTG markets and all major wine markets of the world.
The uniform labelling system will also make it easier for consumers to readily access wine information on the container.
Australian industry estimates show that the Agreement could save them approximately $25 million in labelling costs, helping to increase the competitiveness, volume and value of Australian wine exports.
Wine is Australia’s third-largest agricultural export, with a value of $2.8 billion. The WWTG markets alone accounted for up to 47 per cent of Australia’s wine exports in 2003-04, with sales of bottled wine to WWTG markets worth $1.21 billion. Australia exports to 104 countries and has an eight per cent share of global wine exports.
The process of bringing the Agreement into force in Australia will include tabling the Agreement in parliament and adjusting domestic labelling requirements for wine. An amendment to the States and Territories regulation on wine labelling will be required to implement the Agreement.
For the joint press release of Mr Truss, the Minister for Trade, and Mr McGauran, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry go to: http://www.trademinister.gov.au/releases/2007/wtt004a_07-joint.html
Other outcomes of the 22-24 January 2007 WWTG meeting in Canberra included agreement for the group to continue to facilitate trade between participating countries and build markets for wine exports globally, including through pursuing further wine labelling arrangements between participants.