6 July 2010
NAIDOC Week 4-11 July 2010
NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
Indigenous Australians and Australians from all walks of life come together to celebrate NAIDOC week. NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observation Committee’. This committee was responsible for organising national activities during NAIDOC Week and its name is now used to mark the week.
This year’s theme is ‘Unsung Heroes – Closing the Gap by Leading Their Way’, and celebrates the many unsung Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have made huge contributions to Australian society, both now and in the past. It is about Indigenous Australians who are serving as an inspiration to others by setting their own directions and following their own paths.
The theme also reinforces Indigenous Australian ownership of Australia’s ‘Closing the Gap’ strategy. Under the strategy, Australian Governments are working to close the gap in life expectancy and opportunities between Indigenous and all Australians.
The Australian High Commission will be marking NAIDOC week by displaying books and reference materials promoting Indigenous Australian culture. Both the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags will be flown alongside the Australian flag at the Australian High Commission during NAIDOC week.
Australia Network are also marking NAIDOC week by broadcasting movies and documentaries that showcase Indigenous Australian culture.
We encourage you to join in celebrating NAIDOC by visiting the Australian High Commission and viewing our display reference materials celebrating Indigenous Australian culture.
If you would like further information about NAIDOC week either contact the Australian High Commission on 21184, via email at [email protected] or by visiting the official NAIDOC website at: www.naidoc.org.au.
24 June 2010
Handover of Motorcycles to the Police Service
On Thursday 24 June 2010, the Australian High Commissioner, His Excellency Brett Aldam presented the Commissioner of Police, Mr Tebano Tauatea with 20 motorcycles at police headquarters in Betio. The motorcycles, worth $37,000, were funded by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) under the Pacific Police Development Program (PPDP).
The motorcycles will be distributed to the Kiribati Police Service in the outer islands to assist police officers to respond to the needs of the community. They have been donated as part of a wider program of support that is being delivered in partnership with the Kiribati Police Service under the PPDP and the program it replaced in 2009, the Pacific Regional Policing Initiative (PRPI). Through this support, Australia recognises the important role of policing in promoting safe and prosperous communities, in protecting borders and in helping Kiribati to achieve its development goals.
15 June 2010
Pohnpei meeting of Pacific Islands Forum Trade Ministers advances PACER Plus
by Misa Telefoni Retzlaff, Samoan Deputy Prime Minister; Simon Crean, Australian Minister for Trade; and Murray McCully, New Zealand Minister for Foreign Affairs
We are greatly encouraged by the decisions adopted at the Pacific Islands Forum Trade Ministers’ Meeting held in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, on 29 April, which we had the honour to participate in. These decisions will help ensure that the negotiations for a new regional trade and economic agreement, known as PACER Plus, will lead to lasting benefits for Forum Island countries.
Trade Ministers gathered in Pohnpei were pleased to hear that the Chief Trade Adviser, Dr Christopher Noonan, had started work, and they encouraged him to move swiftly to finalise the establishment of his office. The Office of the Chief Trade Adviser will provide valuable, independent advice and support to Forum Island countries during the PACER Plus negotiations.
Trade Ministers accepted Australia’s offer to support a technical workshop on customs issues in late August/early September and Solomon Islands’ offer to host the next PACER Plus Officials’ Meeting later this year. We are convinced these meetings will be important occasions for further discussions on how PACER Plus can create opportunities for the region.
At the meeting in Pohnpei, Trade Ministers also discussed the fundamental importance of shipping, aviation, telecommunications and water infrastructure to increased trade in goods and services in the region. Ministers agreed that these matters should be added to the existing priority PACER Plus negotiating issues relating to goods trade, development assistance, and regional labour mobility.
On the issue of regional labour mobility, there is a strong desire to promote the skills development of Forum Island country workers to enable them to work on major projects in the region where foreign workers are required, such as Guam’s military build-up and PNG’s LNG project.
We see building the capacity of Pacific nations as an essential element of PACER Plus - putting substance into the “Plus”. This is because trade liberalisation is not an end in itself. We also need to make sure that the economies of the Forum Island countries are made stronger and more competitive to enable them to take advantage of opportunities that will arise from the outcomes of the PACER Plus negotiations.
Forum Trade Ministers also endorsed plans to hold annual discussions on PACER Plus with non-state actors. We believe these discussions will be important opportunities to engage business groups, community groups and other organisations interested in PACER Plus. These discussions will usefully complement national consultations currently underway.
Forum Island countries are currently recovering from the global economic crisis and moving towards increased involvement in regional and global trade. It is our conviction that a PACER Plus agreement which takes account of the individual circumstances of Forum Island countries will make a substantial contribution to facilitating greater access to markets for goods and services, thereby creating jobs, enhancing the private sector and raising standards of living. We were encouraged to see at Pohnpei that this goal is shared by our ministerial colleagues around the region and we are optimistic that good progress can be made on PACER Plus between now and the next meeting of Forum Trade Ministers scheduled for April next year.
"The Commonwealth community is delighted and grateful to be hosted once again by the people and government of Australia. The Commonwealth is all about governments and people who share the same values and principles, and the will to support each other. CHOGM therefore brings together our political leaders but also civil society, young people, the business community, and many others who share the vision of this global summit in Perth being a Commonwealth meeting for a Commonwealth of its times," he added.
The agenda for the meeting will be set nearer the time. Leaders will focus on a wide array of issues of collective interest to the 54 member nations of the Commonwealth.
4 May 2010
Building stronger and more resilient economies in the Pacific by Simon Crean, Australian Minister for Trade
The global financial crisis may seem like a strange time to launch negotiations on a new regional trade and economic agreement. But I am convinced that Pacific Islands Forum Leaders made exactly the right decision when they agreed in August 2009 – in the darkest days of the global financial crisis – to commence negotiations on a new trade and economic agreement known as PACER Plus.
Forum Island countries have faced particularly difficult economic challenges over the past three years. The ongoing and significant long term economic development challenges, such as limited access to income earning opportunities, have been made worse by the global financial crisis. In addition, the September 2009 tsunami in Samoa and Tonga, flash flooding in Fiji and the Solomon Islands, and recent cyclones remind us how environmental factors can contribute to the Pacific region’s challenges.
The events of the past year have brought home the need to build the resilience of Forum Island country economies to international shocks. This does not mean that Forum Island countries should turn their backs on the international economy. I know that does not work and I’m very encouraged to see that Forum Island country Leaders have firmly rejected that course.
Australia welcomes the opportunity for further discussions on PACER Plus at the Pacific Islands Forum Trade Ministers’ Meeting on 29-30 April 2010 in Pohnpei.
Building economic resilience means, above all, strengthening competitiveness to take advantage of international trade opportunities.
International trade contributes to economic growth by creating jobs, enhancing the private sector, and raising standards of living. This is why Australia, New Zealand and Forum Island countries have pursued greater economic integration and trade liberalisation as a regional priority for decades. In August last year the Leaders of Pacific Island Forum countries once again highlighted trade as a regional priority when they agreed to commence negotiations on PACER Plus.
I strongly endorse our Leaders’ decision to start negotiations on PACER Plus. Of course, trade is not an end in itself. Simply opening markets is not enough: we also need to make sure that Forum Island economies are strong enough and competitive enough to take advantage of market opportunities.
That is why Australia supports the new trade and economic agreement being crafted in a way that takes account of the individual circumstances of Forum Island Countries and incorporates a substantial focus on development outcomes. We recognise that further development assistance will be crucial to build Forum Island country capacity to take advantage of the liberalisation opportunities created by this prospective new agreement.
As with anything worth doing, trade liberalisation takes courage and commitment. A number of people are worried about “free trade”. People have told me, for example, that PACER Plus will destroy the revenue base of Pacific governments by removing tariffs on imports. This is simply not true. Forum Island country governments are already committed to reducing their tariffs as part of trade liberalisation already underway. Other trade agreements and prospective trade agreements, such as the Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations with the European Union, are already addressing tariff issues. When negotiations begin under PACER Plus for future tariff commitments, Australia will take account of the individual circumstances of different Forum Island countries. Forum Economic Ministers have tasked the Forum Secretariat to facilitate a study on improving government revenue collection, with particular reference to addressing the impact of trade liberalisation. So that when PACER Plus tariff reductions finally come into effect – years from now, after the negotiations have concluded and the agreement enters into force – Forum Island countries will not only cope, but thrive.
Australia has already begun working with Forum Island countries to provide trade capacity and development assistance specifically relating to PACER Plus. The Australian Government funded Trade Fellowships program is providing training to Forum Island country officials to increase trade negotiating capacity. Forum Island countries are also taking advantage of Australia’s Trade Research Initiative, which provides $65,000 to each country to commission independent research on trade priorities and needs for PACER Plus. Australia and New Zealand have each agreed to provide AUD 1.5 million over three years to fund the establishment of the Office of the Chief Trade Adviser to provide independent advice and assistance to Forum Island countries in the PACER Plus negotiations. The OCTA is being set up to serve the interests of Forum Island countries and will be answerable to the Forum Island countries. I am delighted that the Chief Trade Adviser, Dr Christopher Noonan, took up his appointment at the end of March.
PACER Plus provides the long term opportunity to create jobs, enhance private sector growth, raise standards of living and boost sustainable economic development in Forum Island countries.
25 March 2010
Earth Hour – 8.30-9.30 pm local time on Saturday 27 March
The Australian High Commission will join fellow Australians and people from around the world in observing “Earth Hour” on Saturday 27 March.
Earth Hour is an initiative of the World Wild Life Fund for Nature (WWF) aimed at raising awareness of climate change by providing an opportunity for organisations and individuals to think about how they can cut their daily power consumption and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Earth hour began in Sydney in 2007, with more than 2.2 million individuals turning off their lights for one hour. In March 2008, participation soared to over 50 million people around the globe. In 2009 hundreds of millions of people around the world showed their support by turning off their lights for one hour. Even more are expected to switch off their lights this year.
Earth Hour 2010 will continue to be a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand up, to show leadership and be responsible for our future.
Iconic buildings and landmarks from Europe to Asia to the Americas will stand in darkness. People across the world from all walks of life will turn off their lights and join together in celebration and contemplation of the one thing we all have in common – our planet.
Many Australian companies, individuals, public and private institutions, including the High Commission now turn off non-essential lights and equipment when not in use, not only during Earth Hour but every day.