Australia: Background and U.S. Relations
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Australia Is Awash with Political Memoir, but Only Some Will Survive the Flood
Australia is awash with political memoir, but only some will survive the... https://theconversation.com/australia-is-awash-with-political-memoir-b... Academic rigour, journalistic flair September 9, 2015 8.51am AEST For publishers, Australian political memoir or biography is likely to pay its own way, at the very least. AAP Image/Lukas Coch September 9, 2015 8.51am AEST Last year more than a dozen political memoirs were published in Australia. From Bob Author Carr’s Diary of a Foreign Minister to Greg Combet’s The Fights of My Life, from Rob Oakeshott’s The Independent Member for Lyne to Bob Brown’s Optimism, one could be forgiven for thinking Australia is a nation of political junkies. Jane Messer Or that we’re fascinated by the personalities, policies and procedures that shape our Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, political landscape. But are we really, and if not, why so many books? Macquarie University The deluge shows no signs of abating, with a similar number of titles expected this year. Already we’ve seen the release of Shadow Minister Chris Bowen’s The Money Men, reflections by Federal Labor members Mark Butler and Andrew Leigh, with former Victorian Labor leader John Brumby’s practical “lessons”, The Long Haul, in press. Liberals, once laggards in this genre, are stepping up in growing numbers. Federal Minister Christopher Pyne’s “hilarious” A Letter To My Children is out, and Peter Reith’s The Reith Papers is underway. Also in press is the genuinely unauthorised Born to Rule: the Unauthorised Biography of Malcolm Turnbull. -
Australia's Strategic Culture and Constraints in Defence
International Studies Association – Annual Convention 2013 Australia’s Strategic Culture and Constraints in Defence and National Security Policymaking Alex Burns, PhD Candidate, Monash University ([email protected]) Ben Eltham, PhD Candidate, University of Western Sydney ([email protected]) Abstract Scholars have advanced different conceptualisations of Australia’s strategic culture. Collectively, this work contends Australia is a ‘middle power’ nation with a realist defence policy, elite discourse, entrenched military services, and a regional focus. This paper contends that Australia’s strategic culture has unresolved tensions due to the lack of an overarching national security framework, and policymaking constraints at two interlocking levels: cultural worldviews and institutional design that affects strategy formulation and resource allocation. The cultural constraints include confusion over national security policy, the prevalence of neorealist strategic studies, the Defence Department’s dominant role in formulating strategic doctrines, and problematic experiences with Asian ‘regional engagement’ and the Pacific Islands. The institutional constraints include resourcing, inter-departmental coordination, a narrow approach to government white papers, and barriers to long-term strategic planning. In this paper, we examine possibilities for continuity and change, including the Gillard Government’s Asian Century White Paper, National Security Strategy and the forthcoming 2013 Defence White Paper. Introduction Digging Up Silos in Australia’s National Security Community On 23rd January 2013, the Gillard Government released Australia’s first National Security Strategy (NSS): Strong and Secure: A Strategy for Australia’s National Security.1 Amongst the NSS initiatives was a new Australian Cyber Security Centre that would coordinate Australian Federal Government expertise to combat cyber-attacks and cybercrime, provide cybersecurity and to strengthen the National Broadband Network’s rollout. -
Howard Government Retrospective II
Howard Government Retrospective II “To the brink: 1997 - 2001” Articles by Professor Tom Frame 14 - 15 November 2017 Howard Government Retrospective II The First and Second Howard Governments Initial appraisals and assessments Professor Tom Frame Introduction I have reviewed two contemporaneous treatments Preamble of the first Howard Government. Unlike other Members of the Coalition parties frequently complain retrospectives, these two works focussed entirely on that academics and journalists write more books about the years 1996-1998. One was published in 1997 the Australian Labor Party (ALP) than about Liberal- and marked the first anniversary of the Coalition’s National governments and their leaders. For instance, election victory. The other was published in early three biographical studies had been written about Mark 2000 when the consequences of some first term Latham who was the Opposition leader for a mere decisions and policies were becoming a little clearer. fourteen months (December 2003 to February 2005) Both books are collections of essays that originated when only one book had appeared about John Howard in university faculties and concentrated on questions and he had been prime minister for nearly a decade. of public administration. The contributions to both Certainly, publishers believe that books about the Labor volumes are notable for the consistency of their tone Party (past and present) are usually more successful and tenor. They are not partisan works although there commercially than works on the Coalition parties. The is more than a hint of suspicion that the Coalition sales figures would seem to suggest that history and was tampering with the institutions that undergirded ideas mean more to some Labor followers than to public authority and democratic government in Coalition supporters or to Australian readers generally. -
Inside This Issue ENTERTAINMENT Video 1 Gameology By: John H
May, 2009 Tinity Christian Academy, Addison, Texas U.S.A. Editor: Harrison G. Inside This Issue ENTERTAINMENT Video 1 Gameology By: John H. and Harrison G. The Middle 2 Video Gameology, the study of video games. Here, among the students of Trinity School Murder Christian Academy the Xbox 360 is the leading console. Other popular systems are the Mystery Wii, and the iPhone 3G. Life at Trinity 2 First is the Xbox 360, made by Microsoft Gaming Studios. There Christian are three types of Xbox‟s: the Arcade, the PRO, and the Elite. Academy The #1 selling Xbox is the PRO. It comes with 60GB hard drive, two free games and a headset/mic sold for $299.99. “The Xbox Claymation 3 360 owns all!” says John H. The Elite is for extreme gamers only Station with an extreme price of $399.99. The last one is the Arcade, a great family system priced at $199.99. Now a popular game for the Xbox 360 is Madden 09. This foot- Wacky Texas 4 ball game is a major hit among TCA students and usually costs between $45 and $50. Weather The Madden series features NFL based games. In the past years the Madden series has improved by only small changes, like some The Jungle in 4 graphic increase, and a few dif- ferent players, but now all that is the City changed. Madden 09 is a com- pletely different game having over 250 improvements from Madden 08. Increased play call allows player s to modify plays and substitute players. The graph- Middle School 5 ics have improved greatly along with the other improvements. -
Jihadism in Africa Local Causes, Regional Expansion, International Alliances
SWP Research Paper Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs Guido Steinberg and Annette Weber (Eds.) Jihadism in Africa Local Causes, Regional Expansion, International Alliances RP 5 June 2015 Berlin All rights reserved. © Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, 2015 SWP Research Papers are peer reviewed by senior researchers and the execu- tive board of the Institute. They express exclusively the personal views of the authors. SWP Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs Ludwigkirchplatz 34 10719 Berlin Germany Phone +49 30 880 07-0 Fax +49 30 880 07-100 www.swp-berlin.org [email protected] ISSN 1863-1053 Translation by Meredith Dale (Updated English version of SWP-Studie 7/2015) Table of Contents 5 Problems and Recommendations 7 Jihadism in Africa: An Introduction Guido Steinberg and Annette Weber 13 Al-Shabaab: Youth without God Annette Weber 31 Libya: A Jihadist Growth Market Wolfram Lacher 51 Going “Glocal”: Jihadism in Algeria and Tunisia Isabelle Werenfels 69 Spreading Local Roots: AQIM and Its Offshoots in the Sahara Wolfram Lacher and Guido Steinberg 85 Boko Haram: Threat to Nigeria and Its Northern Neighbours Moritz Hütte, Guido Steinberg and Annette Weber 99 Conclusions and Recommendations Guido Steinberg and Annette Weber 103 Appendix 103 Abbreviations 104 The Authors Problems and Recommendations Jihadism in Africa: Local Causes, Regional Expansion, International Alliances The transnational terrorism of the twenty-first century feeds on local and regional conflicts, without which most terrorist groups would never have appeared in the first place. That is the case in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Syria and Iraq, as well as in North and West Africa and the Horn of Africa. -
The Vultures Will Be Hovering Again Soon Enough, As Bill Shorten Begins to Stumble Date September 21, 2015 - 5:58AM
The vultures will be hovering again soon enough, as Bill Shorten begins to stumble Date September 21, 2015 - 5:58AM Paul Sheehan Sydney Morning Herald columnist Disability deserves its own ministry: Shorten Opposition leader Bill Shorten says he is disappointed Malcolm Turnbull's new ministry does not feature a minister for disability. Courtesy ABC News 24. It is only natural that the vultures will grow hungry again soon. They have become accustomed to kings becoming carrion. In the past 20 years Paul Keating, Kim Beazley, Simon Crean, Mark Latham, Beazley again, John Howard, Brendan Nelson, Malcolm Turnbull, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Rudd again, and now Tony Abbott have all been felled, a procession of change, on average, every 20 months, for 20 years. It shows no sign of slowing. In this context, the Canning by-election could have been called the Cunning by- election. It gave a clear, vindicating victory for Malcolm Turnbull's brazen, lightning coup. So now the vultures will soon be hovering over the obvious loser, Bill Shorten, who made a serious blunder last week that puts him on carrion watch. Having hovered over Abbott for months, the vultures will be riding the political thermals and circling in the sky, watching for Shorten to falter. He just became much more vulnerable. He has never been popular in the opinion polls. He has rarely been impressive in parliament. He was especially unimpressive in the three sitting days leading up to the Canning by-election. On Tuesday, in his first question to the new Prime Minister, Shorten finished -
Ministerial Staff Under the Howard Government: Problem, Solution Or Black Hole?
Ministerial Staff Under the Howard Government: Problem, Solution or Black Hole? Author Tiernan, Anne-Maree Published 2005 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School Department of Politics and Public Policy DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/3587 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367746 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au Ministerial Staff under the Howard Government: Problem, Solution or Black Hole? Anne-Maree Tiernan BA (Australian National University) BComm (Hons) (Griffith University) Department of Politics and Public Policy, Griffith University Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2004 Abstract This thesis traces the development of the ministerial staffing system in Australian Commonwealth government from 1972 to the present. It explores four aspects of its contemporary operations that are potentially problematic. These are: the accountability of ministerial staff, their conduct and behaviour, the adequacy of current arrangements for managing and controlling the staff, and their fit within a Westminster-style political system. In the thirty years since its formal introduction by the Whitlam government, the ministerial staffing system has evolved to become a powerful new political institution within the Australian core executive. Its growing importance is reflected in the significant growth in ministerial staff numbers, in their increasing seniority and status, and in the progressive expansion of their role and influence. There is now broad acceptance that ministerial staff play necessary and legitimate roles, assisting overloaded ministers to cope with the unrelenting demands of their jobs. However, recent controversies involving ministerial staff indicate that concerns persist about their accountability, about their role and conduct, and about their impact on the system of advice and support to ministers and prime ministers. -
Guam: U.S. Defense Deployments
Guam: U.S. Defense Deployments Shirley A. Kan Specialist in Asian Security Affairs May 6, 2011 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RS22570 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Guam: U.S. Defense Deployments Summary Since 2000, the U.S. military has been building up forward-deployed forces on the westernmost U.S. territory of Guam to increase U.S. presence, deterrence, and power projection for possible responses to crises and disasters, counterterrorism, and contingencies in support of South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, or elsewhere in Asia. Since 2006, three joint exercises based at Guam called “Valiant Shield” have boosted U.S. military readiness in the Asian-Pacific region. The defense buildup on Guam has been moderate. China still has concerns about Guam’s buildup, suspecting it to be directed against China. There has been concern that China and North Korea could target Guam with missiles. Still, Guam’s role increased in engaging China’s military. In 2006, the United States and Japan agreed on a “Roadmap” to strengthen their alliance, including a buildup on Guam to cost $10.3 billion, with Japan contributing 60%. Primary goals were to start the related construction on Guam by 2010 and to complete relocation of about 8,000 marines from Okinawa to Guam by 2014. In Tokyo on February 17, 2009, the Secretary of State signed the bilateral “Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Japan Concerning the Implementation of the Relocation of the III Marine Expeditionary Force Personnel and Their Dependents From Okinawa to Guam” that reaffirmed the “Roadmap” of May 1, 2006. -
Work Choices: an Update
The Otemon Journal of AustralianStudies, vol. 33, pp. 201−206, 2007 201 Work Choices: An Update Braham Dabscheck Senior Fellow, Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne In December 2005, the Howard government passed the Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005 (Cwlth), which ushered in major changestothe operation of Australian indus- trial relations. The Act came into force on 27 March 2006. Major features of the legislation were presented in the May 2006 issue of Ecodate (see Dabscheck, 2006). Possibly, the most significant change is the Commonwealth government taking over state in- dustrial relations systems (Victoria had ceded such powers to the Commonwealth in 1996). Work Choices contains transition provisions for the movement of state workers to the federal system of three years, and of Commonwealth workers, who fall outside the jurisdiction of Work Choices, moving to the states within five years; in the absence of the states ceding power to the Common- wealth. More generally, movement will occur whenthetermsofexisting agreements expire and/or workers enter into new agreements. It will probably take another three to four years before we will be able to assess the impact of Work Choices. Change, at the moment, is incremental. Is Work Choices Constitutional? Work Choices is based on the corporations power contained in the Australian Constitution. Under this power ‘the parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to (Section 51, placitum xx)...Foreigncorporations,andtradingorfinancialcorporationsformedwithinthelimits of the Commonwealth’. Traditionally, the major industrial relations power that had been relied upon was the concili- ation and arbitration power; Section 51, placitum xxxv, of the Constitution. -
The Relationship Between Voting Behavior and Election Commitment: a Literature Review
Open Journal of Social Sciences, 2020, 8, 201-210 https://www.scirp.org/journal/jss ISSN Online: 2327-5960 ISSN Print: 2327-5952 The Relationship between Voting Behavior and Election Commitment: A Literature Review Qin Guo School of Administrative Management, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China How to cite this paper: Guo, Q. (2020). Abstract The Relationship between Voting Behavior and Election Commitment: A Literature By reading the existing literature and combining the Chinese reality, based on Review. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 8, a literature review of the research results on the relationship between election 201-210. commitments and election behaviors, this paper summarizes the existing aca- https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2020.82016 demic achievements and finds that academic discussion on the relationship Received: January 30, 2020 between election behavior and election commitment forms three perspectives: Accepted: February 25, 2020 just a cheap talk view, determining view and neutral view. Published: February 28, 2020 Keywords Copyright © 2020 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. Voting Behavior, Election Commitment, Selection This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 1. Introduction Open Access “Building the No. 1 Village on the Bank of the Yellow River!” This inspiring slo- gan comes from the 2009 election of the director of the village committee of Gaojie Village, Qingjing County, Shaanxi Province. A 19-year-old girl named Bai Yitong from northern Shaanxi, delivered a keynote speech entitled “Building the No. 1 Village on the Bank of the Yellow River” and made “Top Ten Promis- es”: build a comprehensive service building, build a Western House, repair a theater, repair a road, solve draught problems, etc. -
Robert M. Gates, Ph.D
Robert M. Gates, Ph.D. Secretary of Defense (2006-2011); Author, New York Times Best Seller, DUTY: Memoirs of a Cuyahoga Community College Secretary at War and A Passion for Leadership Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®) is a regional leader in public education, academic Robert Gates served as the 22nd secretary of defense (2006-2011) and is the only secretary innovation and cultural enrichment. For more than 55 years, the College has tailored its of defense in U.S. history to be asked to remain in that office by a newly elected President. curriculum to meet changing workforce demands, helping individuals qualify for work in the President Barack Obama is the eighth president Gates has served. He previously served under job market’s most sought-after fields. With six Centers of Excellence and more than 140 career, President George W. Bush. technical and liberal arts programs, Tri-C empowers students by providing clear pathways On Gates’ last day in office, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of to degree and certificate completion. Tri-C has helped more than 900,000 students toward Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor. meaningful careers or advanced education, and more than 85 percent of Tri-C graduates Before becoming secretary of defense in 2006, Gates was the president of Texas A&M University, continue to live in the area, providing a pool of skilled workers that includes nurses, teachers, the nation’s seventh largest university. Prior to assuming the Texas A&M presidency on August medical technicians, firefighters, engineers, police officers and business professionals. -
Ministerial Careers and Accountability in the Australian Commonwealth Government / Edited by Keith Dowding and Chris Lewis
AND MINISTERIAL CAREERS ACCOUNTABILITYIN THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT AND MINISTERIAL CAREERS ACCOUNTABILITYIN THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT Edited by Keith Dowding and Chris Lewis Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at http://epress.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Title: Ministerial careers and accountability in the Australian Commonwealth government / edited by Keith Dowding and Chris Lewis. ISBN: 9781922144003 (pbk.) 9781922144010 (ebook) Series: ANZSOG series Notes: Includes bibliographical references. Subjects: Politicians--Australia. Politicians--Australia--Ethical behavior. Political ethics--Australia. Politicians--Australia--Public opinion. Australia--Politics and government. Australia--Politics and government--Public opinion. Other Authors/Contributors: Dowding, Keith M. Lewis, Chris. Dewey Number: 324.220994 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU E Press Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2012 ANU E Press Contents 1. Hiring, Firing, Roles and Responsibilities. 1 Keith Dowding and Chris Lewis 2. Ministers as Ministries and the Logic of their Collective Action . 15 John Wanna 3. Predicting Cabinet Ministers: A psychological approach ..... 35 Michael Dalvean 4. Democratic Ambivalence? Ministerial attitudes to party and parliamentary scrutiny ........................... 67 James Walter 5. Ministerial Accountability to Parliament ................ 95 Phil Larkin 6. The Pattern of Forced Exits from the Ministry ........... 115 Keith Dowding, Chris Lewis and Adam Packer 7. Ministers and Scandals .........................