BBC Monitoring Quotes From Australian Press 12 Jul 05

The following is a selection of quotes from editorials and commentaries published in 12 July editions of Australian newspapers available to BBC Monitoring:

Iraq/Afghanistan

Melbourne’s The Age: www.theage.com.au “Cabinet’s national security committee, which meets today, faces difficult decisions on troop commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan… Prime Minister John Howard has insisted the [London] bombings will not affect today’s decisions. These do require a clear-eyed assessment of Australia’s interests and a weighing up of its ability to make a difference in Afghanistan and Iraq… Australia prematurely withdrew forces from an entirely legitimate involvement in Afghanistan and their return will help stifle the re-emergence of the Taleban and Al-Qa’idah… Iraq is a different matter, and has been since day one. Iraq was not to blame for the September 11 terrorism, despite US President George Bush’s shameless and continuing use of that tragedy to justify the war. False US and British assertions about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and links to terrorism induced Australia to join an invasion that created a terrorist quagmire… Now, at a time when the US and Britain are at work on exit strategies for Iraq, Australia is contemplating greater engagement. A leaked British defence memo suggests Australia could assume command of coalition forces in southern Iraq and commit extra troops, enabling British forces to transfer to Afghanistan. This would mean Australia assumes a higher profile in Iraq, at great risk and for little real gain, when the prime instigators of the war are looking to do the opposite. Australians might then ask whether their government’s desire to do favours for powerful allies has again taken priority over the need for a hard-headed look at all the implications of what it is being asked to do.” (Editorial) (12)

Africa

Melbourne’s The Age: www.theage.com.au “…Some pompous twit from The Spectator was on the ABC at the weekend telling us that it is ‘arrogant’ and ‘patronizing’ for Westerners to give aid to Africa. Actually, it’s extremely practical, and part of the Christian ethic: do unto others as you would have them unto you. Moreover, it works… Last week’s G8 summit at Gleneagles, and the earlier G8 finance ministers’ meeting, were landmarks in Africa’s history… True, most of this money had been pledged earlier. But the British politicians, the Irish rock stars, and their supporters, all applied enough pressure to make the West’s leaders greatly increase the amount earlier pledged, as well as write off massive debts. Aid lobbyists who dismiss this as ‘no huge deal’ just don’t understand the game. We are giving more aid, and spending it more wisely and creatively… And yet, despite its outstanding initiatives, from East Timor to Papua New Guinea, the Solomons, and tsunami aid, Australia has been strangely reluctant to match the Europeans and US in pledging to double aid. Alexander Downer last week even made the ridiculous claim that we have to choose between quality and quantity… The G8 commitments were a triumph for Western idealism. Australia should do its share.” (Tim Colebatch, economics editor) (12)

Philippines

Melbourne’s The Australian: www.theaustralian.com.au “With its movie-star presidential candidates and its rent-a-coup culture, politics in The Philippines can look like a running joke. Well, don’t laugh, but the string of islands north of Malaysia are also Southeast Asia’s biggest security issue… that is why we need to be taking the current destabilisation of President Gloria Arroyo very, very seriously. Mrs Arroyo has brought her latest problems upon herself… Nevertheless, there are signs that people’s hearts are not really in another burst of ‘people power’, and that Mrs Arroyo may survive the current unrest. On balance, that would be no bad thing… Mrs Arroyo has been a good friend to her country’s three big allies – the US, Australia and Japan – in the war on terror… Mrs Arroyo has restored some fiscal sanity to the budget, dragging the economy out of recession. The Philippines cannot let its latest political mess drag out, and the Philippines’ friends cannot stand by and watch the country lurch towards chaos.”(Editorial) (12)

Maritime security

Melbourne’s The Australian: www.theaustralian.com.au “In a new maritime security programme in Southeast Asia, Australia is helping the Philippines improve its sea surveillance and its ability to respond to terrorist threats against ships and seaborne trade… Little has been said publicly about why… However, recent developments have evidently prompted Canberra to pay much closer attention to the possibility of an attack launched by Al-Qa’idah- inspired terrorists in the southern Philippines against ships carrying billions of dollars of Australian exports to Asia and the US, including tankers laden with liquefied natural gas [LNG] headed for Japan, South Korea or Taiwan. The destinations will soon include China and the west coast of North America as well… Australia’s LNG exports to Asia are already worth more than 3bn dollars. With production expanding, the first shipments to China due to start in 2006 and demand from Asia and California likely to grow quickly during the next decade, Australia seems set to enjoy an LNG bonanza, provided it continues to be a reliable supplier with an unblemished record of safety and security.” (Michael Richardson, visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of South East Asian Studies in Singapore) (12)

Terrorism

Sydney’s The Sydney Morning Herald: www.smh.com.au “The terrorist attacks on London have raised understandable outrage in the West. But they should serve as a reminder that Israelis aside, victims of jihadists in recent years have been Muslims – in Turkey, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and, increasingly, Iraq… The evidence suggests that Western and Muslim societies are likely to be subjected to continuing attacks by jihadists. In the West this is certain to lead to an increasing demand by citizens for greater security. If politicians do not lead this debate, they will be dragged along in its wake… The likes of Bush, Blair and Howard have responded properly to the threat of jihadism. All emphasized that Islam is not the enemy of the West and that the overwhelming majority of Muslims have made a positive contribution to the Western societies in which they have settled… the immediate task is to counter terrorism. Any abolition will be a long-term operation. In the warlike situation in the West, electors will demand – and politicians will deliver – as much security as possible, consistent with the maintenance of a democratic society.” (Gerard Henderson) (12)

New spy chief/envoy to Indonesia

Sydney’s The Sydney Morning Herald: www.smh.com.au “Bill Farmer, the head of the Immigration Department, had to go. But it should not have been to Jakarta, one of Australia’s most senior diplomatic postings. Mr Farmer presided over, and was forced to apologize for, a string of serious departmental mistakes, most notably the wrongful detention of the mentally ill Australian resident Cornelia Rau, and the deportation to the Philippines of the Australian citizen Vivien Alvarez… A senior public servant who so clearly failed to instil an appropriately sensitive culture in immigration – a department with the power to make or break people’s lives, especially those of asylum seekers – is the wrong man to represent Australia in Indonesia… The Howard government concedes the need for sweeping change in immigration. But the unsympathetic culture fostered in enforcing Australia’s tough border controls came right from the top. Rewarding Mr Farmer and elevating another hardhead, Andrew Metcalfe, to the top departmental job promises little prospect of real change nor accountability.” (Editorial) (12)

Melbourne’s The Australian: www.theaustralian.com.au “With a distinguished diplomatic career behind him, Bill Farmer is well suited to the key post of ambassador to Jakarta, which he will take up later this year. The problem with Mr Farmer’s appointment is not its substance, but its outrageous timing. In a few days, the Howard government will release former federal police chief Mick Palmer’s report into the Cornelia Rau affair. Whether he intended to or not, and whether he likes it or not, John Howard has created the impression he is getting Mr Farmer out of the line of fire… The politicized character of the Farmer appointment has taken the spotlight off the move of another Howard consigliere, international adviser Paul O’Sullivan, to head ASIO [Australian Security Intelligence Organization]. We didn’t need the London bombings to tell us there is hardly a more important role in Australia today than that of the nation’s spy chief… In addition to overseeing this beefed up intelligence operation, these days an ASIO chief is also effectively the government’s counter-terrorism spokesman. Tough, experienced and unsentimental, Mr O’Sullivan looks perfect for the role.” (Editorial) (12)

Sources: As listed