Output 3.1—International policy

Page Index

• Feedback on performance
• Key results

Feedback on performance

The Prime Minister, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Secretary and the departmental Executive provided positive feedback across the range of the division’s work on international issues. The feedback complimented our support for the Prime Minister’s overseas visits, as well as the briefings given to the Prime Minister on topics raised by high-level overseas visitors.

Output 3.1 was assessed as having provided effective and timely advice, briefing and support on international issues, including trade and aid policy, and on the organisational and logistical issues related to the 2007 APEC Leaders’ Week.

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Key results

The period from July 2004 to June 2005 was a time of intense international engagement by Australia. The region suffered the unprecedented Indian Ocean tsunamis, in addition to the ongoing impacts of terrorism, including an attack on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. Australia continued active reconstruction and peacekeeping efforts in Iraq.

Australia continued to develop free trade agreements (FTAs) with a number of countries, and achieved major foreign and trade policy outcomes through participation in international and regional forums, including the Pacific Islands Forum, the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit and the World Economic Forum.

By providing expert advice to the Prime Minister and participating in the development of whole-of-government approaches to major foreign and trade policy endeavours, the International Division contributed to government initiatives and outcomes, as described in detail below.

Indian Ocean tsunamis emergency response

The tsunamis that devastated the South Asian and South-East Asian regions on 26 December 2004 resulted in some 225,000 deaths (including those of 24 Australians), with many thousands more people made homeless. This unprecedented natural disaster required an immediate, high-level humanitarian response. The International Division had a leading role in the Interdepartmental Emergency Taskforce which provided immediate high-level advice to Cabinet and coordinated the Australian Government’s response across agencies to deliver essential supplies, medical teams and additional staff to posts in the countries affected.

The Prime Minister attended the ASEAN Tsunamis Disaster Summit in Jakarta on 5 and 6 January 2005. The division supported the Prime Minister in his achievement of key outcomes during the summit, including the establishment of the $1 billion, five-year Australia–Indonesia Partnership for Reconstruction and Development (AIPRD) announced on 5 January by the Prime Minister and the Indonesian President, Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. We had a lead role in providing advice to the Prime Minister on AIPRD establishment and processes, and continue to work with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (where the AIPRD Secretariat is located), AusAID and other agencies to monitor progress.

We also worked closely with the Economic Division on the Australian Government’s decision, arising from a Paris Club meeting on 12 January 2005, to join other creditor countries in offering an immediate postponement of scheduled debt repayments for the governments of tsunami-affected countries.

International trade

The division continued to support the government’s substantial international trade agenda during the year, including through policy coordination and advice to the Prime Minister on:

• the development and introduction into parliament of legislation to implement the Australia–United States and Thailand–Australia FTAs, allowing for their entry into force as planned on 1 January 2005
• the commencement of FTA negotiations
  • with ASEAN and New Zealand at the November 2004 ASEAN Summit, in Vientiane, Laos
  • with the United Arab Emirates in March 2005, during the visit to Australia of that country’s Minister for Economy and Planning, Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al-Qassimi
  • with Malaysia in April 2005, during the visit to Australia of the Malaysian Prime Minister, the Honourable Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
  • with China in April 2005, during the Prime Minister’s visit to Beijing
• the initiation of an FTA scoping study with Japan in April 2005, during the Prime Minister’s visit to Tokyo
• advancing Australia’s bilateral, regional and multilateral trade interests at the November 2004 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Santiago, Chile, and at the January 2005 World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland
• pursuing an ambitious outcome to the World Trade Organization Doha Development Round negotiations.

During the year, the International Division also developed the proposal to establish the APEC 2007 Taskforce to coordinate security and logistics for Australia’s year as APEC host.

Engagement in the Pacific region

The government continued its activist foreign policy approach to the Pacific region during the reporting period. The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) made good progress on economic reform and machinery-of-government initiatives. Law and order also recovered strongly, including through the bringing to trial of several high-profile ex-militants. Threats to RAMSI personnel remained, however, highlighted by the tragic deaths of two serving Australian personnel. RAMSI received over $800 million in additional funding to continue its important work to 2008–09. The department was actively involved in the development of this funding and of a smaller package of assistance for Nauru.

The Prime Minister played a leading role at the Pacific Islands Forum meeting held in Apia, Samoa, in August 2004, including through the announcement of a new regional assistance fund for transport reform. Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to ambitious and wide-ranging initiatives, including the development of the Pacific Plan. The plan is designed to become the cornerstone document for the region, with a strong focus on the key goals of good governance, economic growth, sustainable development and security.

The operation of Australia’s Enhanced Cooperation Package with Papua New Guinea (PNG) began during the reporting period, with substantial deployments of Australian Federal Police officers to Port Moresby and Bougainville, complemented on the civilian side by a strong injection of Australian Public Service staff into key PNG Government agencies. The department was closely involved in talks with PNG on the continuing viability of the package, following a PNG Supreme Court decision in May 2005 that ruled parts of the arrangement unconstitutional.

Reconstruction efforts in Iraq

The International Division continued to work closely with the National Security Division to ensure a coordinated, whole-of-government approach to Australia’s assistance for reconstruction and stabilisation in Iraq. The International Division participates in the standing interdepartmental taskforce on Iraq and provides central support for Cabinet decision making about Australia’s continuing military and civilian engagement. During 2004–05, we also played a lead coordinating role in initiatives to forgive the vast majority of Iraq’s outstanding debt to Australia, and to deploy further Australian Defence Force personnel to Al Muthanna Province to train Iraq’s security forces and help provide security for Japanese Defence Force members engaged in reconstruction.

Overseas visits and visitors

The Prime Minister hosted successful visits by a number of heads of state and dignitaries during 2004–05. Significantly, these included a state visit by the President of Indonesia, Dr Yudhoyono, in April 2005. The visit, during which the AIPRD held its inaugural meeting, emphasised the closeness of the bilateral relationship. Also in April was the important visit to Australia by Dr Abdullah Badawi, the first Malaysian Prime Minister to visit Australia since 1984.

During 2004–05, the International Division provided a wide range of advice, briefing and support for the Prime Minister’s programme of overseas travel, more details of which are in the report on performance for Output 4.7.

APEC 2007 Taskforce

The APEC 2007 Taskforce was established in the Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements for 2004–05.

In February 2005, the responsibilities of the taskforce were expanded from the management of the organisational and logistical arrangements of the leaders’ week to include all APEC ministerial meetings and senior officials’ meetings to be held in Australia in 2007.

The taskforce’s operations and staffing expanded during the year as work requirements dictated. An office is in the process of being established in Sydney, which will be the venue city for the APEC 2007 Leaders’ Week.

We stayed on track to achieve the government’s targets of providing an environment that facilitates and furthers the aims of APEC, and showcasing Australian culture, products and services to best advantage, in a cost-effective way and with minimal disruption to the public.

Between September 2004 and February 2005, the taskforce completed the preliminary conceptual planning and costing of the organisational and logistical arrangements for the leaders’ week, ministerial meetings and senior officials’ meetings to be held in Australia in 2007. We worked closely with the departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Treasury, Finance and Administration, and the Attorney-General.

The taskforce provided advice to the Prime Minister, the government, the Secretary and the departmental Executive on a range of issues, including:

• centralisation of the management of organisational and logistical arrangements for the whole of the APEC year
• selection of the location for the leaders’ week and preparation of an associated memorandum of understanding between the Australian Government and the New South Wales Government
• selection of the locations for ministers’ and senior officials’ meetings, following up the Prime Minister’s invitation to states and territories to engage in APEC events
• establishment of the pre-planning group to develop preliminary conceptual planning and costing
• development of budgets for the life of the project.