News Stories - 12 June 2008
Australia to Contribute to Darfur Peace Process
Australia will join an international force under the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) to help implement a plan to restore peace and stability to the strife-torn region of Sudan. The Australia Government has also pledged an additional $5 million dollars in humanitarian assistance to the people of Darfur.
Australia will join an international force under the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) which is mandated to ‘take necessary action’ to protect civilians and humanitarian workers, and to support implementation of the 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement.
Preliminary planning has commenced for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) deployment to UNAMID nine military officers of the ADF will serve with UNAMID Headquarters, demonstrating the high level of confidence that the UN places in the ADF.
ADF participation in UNAMID is subject to final agreement by the Government of Sudan.
This contribution demonstrates the Australian Government’s commitment to the United Nations (UN) and to restoring peace and stability in Darfur an estimated 300,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine and diseases since 2003 and an estimated 2.7 million people have been displaced.
In addition, the Australian Government has pledged a further $5 million in humanitarian assistance to the people of Darfur. This brings Australia’s contribution to Darfur to more than $62 million since 2004. Australia has also provided $11 million to address spill-over effects of the Darfur conflict into neighbouring countries.
This year marks the 60th Anniversary of UN Peacekeeping, which the Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, recently acknowledged in a Ministerial Statement in Parliament.
Australia’s commitment to UNAMID is another demonstration of our long-standing tradition of contributing to UN peacekeeping operations.
Australia has made many contributions to efforts to resolve international disputes by supporting peace and humanitarian operations under the auspices of the UN but also as part of other multinational efforts.
More than 30,000 Australians have served around the world as peacekeepers
Australian peacekeepers have made contributions to UN peacekeeping operations in Africa, Europe, Central America, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region
Australia is currently the 12th largest financial contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget.
The non-UN peacekeeping operations to which Australia has contributed include the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in Sinai, the International Force in East Timor (INTERFET) and the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI).
International Students Choosing Australia
Australia’s reputation as a provider of quality education and training continues to grow, with over 450,000 enrolments from 270,000 international students choosing to study in Australia in 2007. Asia remains Australia’s main source of international student enrolments, with more than 75 per cent, but enrolments from the Middle East, South America and Africa have grown strongly.
Australia’s reputation as a provider of quality education and training to international students continues to grow. Australia is the third most popular English-speaking destination in the world, and the fifth most popular overall.
In 2007, there were more than 450,000 enrolments from 270,000 full-fee paying international students in Australia on a student visa.
Asia remains Australia’s main source of international student enrolments, with more than 75 per cent, but enrolments from the Middle East, South America and Africa have grown strongly. China (23.5 per cent), India (14.0 per cent) and South Korea (7.6 per cent) are the largest sources of international student enrolments.
5,000 students were funded under Australian Government scholarships another 100,000 were studying Australian courses at off-shore campuses or by correspondence.
Around 40 per cent of these enrolments are in the higher education sector (which accounts for 70 per cent of fees earned), with vocational education and English language courses also very significant.
Australia’s first higher education institution, the University of Sydney, was founded in 1850. Since then, the number of universities has grown to 39 there are also about 100 institutions accredited by state and territory governments to deliver specific higher education qualification courses, usually in association with a university.
Australia is a destination of choice for international students for a number of reasons: the benefit of an English-speaking education, the high quality offered by Australian education providers, with courses delivered by experienced teachers
students also benefit from living in the broader Australian community, where they enjoy a lifestyle and culture that encourages personal growth, freedom and opportunity in a safe and clean environment.
Australian qualifications are internationally recognised. This gives graduates scope to find rewarding careers throughout the world.
Interested students can find out more about studying in Australia by going to the Study in Australia website: http://studyinaustralia.gov.au. The website is available in numerous languages and provides comprehensive information on options open to students, a search facility covering all the courses and institutions available to international students, information about student visas and a database lists scholarships by field and level of study.
News Stories – 5 June 2008
Australia’s response to rising world food prices
The Australian Government has been active in helping shape the international community’s response to high food prices. It has provided an additional $30 million to the World Food Programme to meet immediate humanitarian needs and is actively engaged in international efforts to address the root causes of food insecurity in developing countries.
Food prices have been rising steadily since the early 2000s and particularly since 2006, but have spiked recently. The World Bank has estimated that higher food prices could push another 100 million people below the poverty line, on top of the existing 850 million people already short of food.
The Government has been active in helping shape the international community’s response to high food prices.
Mr Smith represented Australia at the FAO’s High Level Conference on Global Food Security in Rome this week and delivered a clear statement of Australia’s support for tackling the challenges to food security.
Mr Crean attended the APEC Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Peru on 31 May and 1 June at which Ministers issued a strong statement on the importance for food security of concluding the Doha Round this year.
Mr Crean and the Treasurer are also attending the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris this week at which food prices will be discussed.
On 1 May the Government (Mr Smith) announced that Australia would provide A$30 million in emergency assistance in response to an appeal by the World Food Programme (WFP), addition to over A$60 million in contributions Australia is providing to the WFP in 2007-08.
In the longer term, Australia will work to strengthen food security in developing countries through:
- increased development assistance to improve agricultural productivity, rural livelihoods and community resilience;
- constructive participation in multilateral processes, such as the recently formed UN Task Force on the Global Food Crisis; and
- continued advocacy for international trade policy reform.
Australia is urging the international community to remove the trade barriers that distort global agricultural and food markets. These barriers restrict the available sources of food supply, distort world markets, stifle the incentive for farmers to increase production, and deny opportunities to many farmers, especially in developing countries, to trade their agricultural goods on the world market.
The Doha Round is the best opportunity the world has to reform international trade in agriculture. Australia urges WTO members to show the necessary political will and flexibility to conclude the negotiations this year.
Australia has long recognised the importance of improving agricultural and food production and distribution systems in developing countries.
In the past decade alone, Australia has provided more than A$2 billion for rural development programs, with the largest share going to Asia and the Pacific
and the Government is looking at doing even more to help improve agriculture and food productivity in developing countries.
Dublin Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions (19-30 May)
Australia has welcomed the agreement by the Dublin Diplomatic Conference on a treaty that will ban those cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. The Government is very confident that Australia will be in a position to sign this treaty in Oslo in December this year.
The Australian Government strongly supports a ban on cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians.
The Government has welcomed the agreement by all 111 Participating States at the Dublin Diplomatic Conference (19-30 May), as part of the “Oslo process”, to adopt a treaty text that delivers this important humanitarian objective.
The text provides a particularly strong result on the protection of civilians in conflict zones, victim assistance and clearance of affected areas. The Government will review the treaty carefully prior to its opening for signature in Oslo in December.
Mr Smith told the House of Representatives (29 May) that he was “very optimistic – indeed, very confident – that Australia will be in a position to sign this treaty before the end of the year”.
Australia participated constructively in the lead up to the Conference in Dublin, and during the negotiations, to achieve this very good outcome for the international community, while ensuring our core national security interests were safeguarded.
Mr Smith spoke to Norwegian and UK ministers and Mr Rudd spoke to Norwegian and NZ prime ministers during the Conference. The Government worked constructively with the Australian NGO community throughout the “Oslo process”
Australian Red Cross, World Vision Australia, Australian Network to Ban Landmines (ANBL) and Austcare representatives were part of our expert delegations to the “Oslo process” meetings at different times.
We anticipate the text will attract wide adherence as it addresses a concern of a number of States, including Australia, to ensure that cooperation between nations through peacekeeping and other joint operations with States who may not become Party to the treaty is able to continue, for example with the United States.
This cooperation, formally known as “interoperability”, is a vital pillar of Australia’s strategic security and defence arrangements.
Australia has a good and proud record in these areas. We have committed over $175 million for mine action assistance to countries where explosive remnants of war, including cluster munitions, pose a humanitarian hazard.
Australia continues to engage States who have chosen to remain outside the “Oslo process” in the parallel negotiations on cluster munitions under the UN-based Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), which will next meet in July.
The Importance of the Australia-India Relationship
Australia is committed to taking its relationship with India to a higher level and engaging with India on a strategic, long-term basis.
Australia’s Trade Minister, Simon Crean, recently co-chaired the annual Australia-India Joint Ministerial Commission with India’s Minister for Commerce and Industry, Kamal Nath, The discussion covered the WTO Doha Round, as well as key regional and bilateral trade issues.
The Ministers underlined the growing importance of the bilateral economic relationship for both countries. They welcomed the good momentum established in the joint FTA feasibility study, highlighted the importance of adopting a bold and ambitious approach, and agreed that conclusion of the study report should be brought forward to the end of 2008.
The Ministers also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on intellectual property cooperation and welcomed new bilateral dialogues and exchanges on economic policy, water management and competition policy.
The Australia-India Joint Business Council met at the same time as the Ministers, and emphasised the potential of the commercial relationship.
India is the world’s second fastest growing major economy, with growth rates around 8-9 per cent per annum. Its economic rise is a key opportunity for Australia this century.
India is already Australia's fastest growing major export market for both goods and services. Combined goods and services exports increased at over 32 percent annually over the last five years.
India is already Australia's sixth largest merchandise export market and seventh largest services market.
WTO Doha Round: Release of a revised negotiating text on services and a working document on the Rules negotiations
The release of the WTO negotiating text on services – the third pillar of the Doha Round market access negotiations – and a working document on the Rules negotiations were further important steps towards bringing the Round to a conclusion. However, pressure will need to be maintained to ensure ambitious language on the level of new market opening for foreign services suppliers is retained in the services text.
The WTO Doha Round took another step forward last week with the long anticipated release of revised negotiating text on services. The new text on services will help guide the services negotiations.
Australia supports the efforts that have been made to capture the common ground of WTO Members across the vast majority of the text, except in relation to the level of new market opening for foreign services suppliers.
Australia considers the text to be sufficiently developed to be fed into the horizontal process with Senior Officials and Ministers to resolve outstanding differences across the Doha negotiations.
Australia considers that services negotiations need to be driven by the same level of ambition and political will as negotiations on agriculture and industrial products.
Australia also strongly supports a ministerial ‘signalling’ conference on services at which Ministers can foreshadow the sorts of new market openings for services suppliers that can be achieved through the Round.
This will help maintain the momentum for a substantive services outcome in the Doha Round.
Australia cannot support a Doha outcome that does not deliver commercially meaningful new market access for foreign service suppliers.
Australia welcomes the release of a working document on trade rules that preserves the Chair’s draft text on anti-dumping, subsidies and fisheries subsidies while providing a thoughtful, balanced reflection on Members’ contributions and their reactions to the Chair’s earlier text.
News Stories – 29 May 2008
Australia-Chile FTA Negotiations Concluded
Australia and Chile have concluded negotiations of a high-quality, comprehensive, WTO-plus free trade agreement.
On 27 May 2008, the Australian Minister for Trade, Mr Simon Crean, and the Chilean Foreign Minister, Mr Alejandro Foxley, concluded the Australia-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.
The FTA is high-quality and comprehensive, covering goods, services and investment. The commitments go beyond what each country has committed at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The Agreement reinforces the contribution of both countries to the multilateral trading system and serves as an excellent model for other APEC economies as they work towards deeper economic integration.
Key aspects of the Agreement include:
- tariffs will be eliminated on 97% of existing merchandise trade upon entry into force and 100% of existing merchandise trade in each direction by 2015
- Chile and Australia have locked in their liberal services and investment regimes for each other – these are WTO GATS-plus commitments – and ensured automatic flow on of any future unilateral or bilateral liberalisation
- suppliers, goods and services from each country have guaranteed non-discriminatory access to government procurement markets in the other
- transparent, high-standard protection has been locked in for intellectual property rights including patents, trademarks, geographical indications and copyright.
Two-way trade is currently more than AU$850 million a year and Australia invests US$3 billion in Chile.
Appointment of Climate Change Special Envoy and Ambassador
The Australian Government has strengthened its international engagement on climate change by appointing a Special Envoy on Climate Change and an Ambassador for Climate Change.
Climate change is one of the greatest social, economic and environmental challenges of our time. The Australian Government has made addressing climate change a priority. It is committed to ensuring Australia meets its responsibilities in facing this global challenge.
This includes a comprehensive approach to: reduce emissions in Australia in the short and long term; work with the international community to develop a global response that is effective and fair; and prepare for the unavoidable impacts of climate change.
Minister Wong has announced that Mr Howard Bamsey will be appointed Australia’s Special Envoy on Climate Change and Ms Jan Adams will be appointed Australia’s Ambassador for Climate Change.
These appointments reflect the Government’s determination to help shape a global solution on climate change.
International climate change negotiations will become more frequent and intense as the world follows the Bali Roadmap toward a new, long-term climate change agreement. These appointments will enable Australia to ensure an appropriately high level of representation at these crucial negotiations. Mr Bamsey and Ms Adams have both demonstrated enormous capacity to navigate the complex issues of international climate change negotiations.
The Australian Government recognises that Australia has a responsibility, as a developed country, to take the lead in international action and discussions
these appointments will help deliver on that responsibility.
Australia’s Response to the Sichuan Earthquake: China
Australia has responded to the earthquake in Sichuan Province, China with a $2 million emergency assistance package that includes rescue and recovery equipment and support for the Red Cross relief effort.
Australia is deeply saddened by the ongoing loss and suffering resulting from the earthquake in Sichuan Province, China. We extend our deepest condolences to China, in particular to the families and friends of the victims of this terrible tragedy
we have been impressed by the swift and large scale response initiated by the Chinese Government in extremely challenging circumstances.
Like many members of the international community, Australia has offered practical support and assistance to the Chinese people at this difficult time.
The Australian Government has contributed a total of $2 million in emergency assistance to victims of the Sichuan earthquake. On 23 May we delivered to the earthquake zone a $1 million package of rescue and recovery equipment (such as lifting and cutting equipment for collapsed buildings), plus further immediate relief supplies such as tents, generators, blankets, tarpaulins, jerry cans and water tanks.
This complemented Australia’s initial contribution, announced on 17 May, of $1 million to support emergency relief efforts, channelled through the International Federation of the Red Cross and delivered by the Red Cross Society of China
a number of State and Territory governments and large corporations have also contributed funds to the relief effort.
The Australian Government is pleased to be able to assist, in a practical way, the on-going efforts of the Chinese authorities and search and rescue teams on the ground. We will continue to liaise with the Chinese Government to determine how Australia can best assist.