News Stories - 25 August
Australia and China start new phase of negotiations for Free Trade Agreement
Free trade agreement negotiations with China will move into a new phase at the sixth round of negotiations (31 August – 6 September 2006).
Australia and China will exchange market access offers on goods, including agriculture (a sensitive area for China).
The aim will be a two-way reduction in tariffs and associated barriers.
Australia paved the way for market access offers at the fifth round in May, where we tabled preliminary texts for the final document covering trade in goods and services.
Another focal point of the sixth round will be the tabling of Australia’s preliminary text on investment.
Given China’s sensitivities on investment there will be difficult issues to work through before offers on market access can made.
Services and investment market access negotiations should follow before the end of the year.
This slight gap in timing reflects the fact that services and investment issues are sensitive from China’s perspective, and that more time is needed to work through difficult issues that are fundamental to market access negotiations, such as a negative versus a positive list approach, and the handling of investment.
China has accepted that there are to be no exclusions of any major sector from the negotiations and we will not allow the talks on goods and services get too far out of synch.
Australian Fellowship Program to strengthen ties with Asia Pacific
This week the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Teresa Gambaro, launched the inaugural round of the Australian Leadership Awards (ALA) Fellowship Program.
The ALA Fellowships offer professional development opportunities to current and future leaders in the Asia Pacific
ALA Fellowships allow for short-term study and research in Australia, or professional attachment hosted by Australian organisations.
The program will bring over 1700 Fellows to Australia over the coming five years.
ALA Fellowship grants will be awarded through a competitive process to a wide range of Australia organisations, from academic, research, business, industry, media, NGO’s, professional groups and government.
The program allows a wide range of Australian organisations to maximise and strengthen existing linkages within the Asia Pacific region.
The ALA Fellowship Programs will be in fields relevant to the development priorities of the Asia Pacific region. In 2007 priority areas include but are not limited to:
Economic management
Trade policy
Trans-national challenges such as pandemics, diseases, security and clean energy
The priority areas will change to respond to changing regional priorities.
The ALA Fellowships are one component of Australia Scholarships which will double the number of education opportunities available in the Asia Pacific region to 19,000.
Further information on Australian Scholarships and the ALA Fellowships can be found at the following websites:
www.australianscholarships.gov.au
www.ausaid.gov.au/scholar/alafellow.cfm
Launch of the Council for Australian-Arab Relations Strategic Plan 2006-09 and Appointment of new Chair
Australia recommits to strengthening its relations with Arab countries, with the launch of the Council for Australian-Arab Relations (CAAR) Strategic Plan 2006-09 and appointment of Ms Pru Goward as Chair of CAAR.
The Council for Australian-Arab Relations is committed to strengthening relations between Australia and Arab countries.
CAAR promotes mutual interests and a greater understanding and acceptance of cultures, values, beliefs and diversity between the peoples of Australia and the Arab world.
Mr Vaile launched the CAAR Strategic Plan 2006-09 on 16 August. The plan’s priorities include activities that promote Australia as a modern and sophisticated society and a competitive and high-quality destination including for education, tourism
The CAAR encourages the business communities in Australia and the Arab world to join with CAAR to sponsor its various activities, including the promotion of two-way trade and investment.
The CAAR membership has recently undergone changes, with Ms Goward (a previous member and Australia’s Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner) appointed Chair, and several new members also appointed. They are Mr Abduljalil Albaf, General Manager of Clubcafé, Dr Glenn Simpson, CEO of Coffey International Development, and Mr James Langridge, Vice President International of the University of Wollongong. Council members are drawn from a range of fields including academia, business and government.
News Stories - 18 August
Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System - Bali meeting outcomes
Australia continued to work with others in moving forward the implementation of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System at the third meeting held in Bali 31 July – 2 August.
An interim system for tsunami warnings in the Indian Ocean is now operational using information available from seismic and sea level monitoring equipment, including Australian equipment.
While there is still a lot of work to do, this is a considerable improvement on the situation two years ago.
Communication linkages have improved around the Indian Ocean region with regard to tsunami warnings, but national response systems remain a high priority for all parties involved.
The Bali meeting placed great emphasis on communication and community awareness and preparedness within a comprehensive tsunami warning system.
We also welcomed UNESCO’s proposal to produce international guidelines on the role of media in disseminating information as part of an effective early warning system.
Australia will provide $155,000 to fund a developing country representative within the Perth office of the Secretariat of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System.
o This will improve the Secretariat’s understanding of the situation facing developing countries in setting up effective tsunami warning systems.
Implementation of the Australian Tsunami Warning System is progressing well and it will soon be in a position to provide tsunami warning information to Indian Ocean countries.
Archived News Stories 2006
21 & 28 July
7 & 14 July
30 June
16 & 23 June
2 & 9 June