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ALP Caucus shies away from Cluster Munitions treaty obligations
From newsletter: ALHR National Newsletter
Published: 02/12/2011
Published: 02/12/2011
You may recall that under pressure from a civil society campaign, the Parliament deferred its consideration of legislation to ratify the cluster munitions treaty which would give a blanket permission to foreign forces that are not parties to the treaty to stockpile and transit weapons on Australian territory. This drafting loophole, makes it entirely possible that the expanded US presence in Australia could lead to cluster bombs being stockpiled on our soil, in breach of Australia's obligations under the Convention to do everything possible to bring about a ban on these weapons.
The campaign revolved around an open letter to Kevin Rudd, signed by 47 legal professionals, academics, heads of many major NGOs, and former senior Defence personnel. I also added my name to the list of signatories. The letter sums up the issues cogently in a single page and can be accessed here. Alex McKean and I recently wrote an article on this matter for the LawAsia Update, which gives a good two-page overview of the proposed legislation, issues and criticism. I also joined Michelle Fay, from the Cluster Munitions Coalition of Australia and Defence Minister Stephen Smith, on Fran Kelly's News Breakfast Program on ABC Radio National last week, which you can listen to here. If you are interested in exploring this issue further, I recommend checking out the website for the Landmines and Cluster Munition Monitor (www.the-monitor.org), which has an excellent database of information on cluster munitions and related activities internationally.
Well, last week the ALP caucus finally discussed whether to leave this loophole in the legislation open, and, disappointingly, appeared to meekly toe the Government line of sticking by US military interests and expanded US presence. Voting not to amend the Bill, Caucus decided instead to issue a policy statement outlining the Government's intention not to allow stockpiling on Australian soil. This is against a background of WikiLeaks revelations that Australia was doing the bidding of the US in attempting to weaken the treaty while it was being negotiated.
While it is a disappointing development, the campaign of the Cluster Munitions Coalition will continue and I urge you to add your voice to that campaign.
ALHR has agreed to add its logo to the brochure being used to advance the campaign including its 'send a sock' campaign. You may like to do whatever you think is appropriate to support the campaign.
The campaign revolved around an open letter to Kevin Rudd, signed by 47 legal professionals, academics, heads of many major NGOs, and former senior Defence personnel. I also added my name to the list of signatories. The letter sums up the issues cogently in a single page and can be accessed here. Alex McKean and I recently wrote an article on this matter for the LawAsia Update, which gives a good two-page overview of the proposed legislation, issues and criticism. I also joined Michelle Fay, from the Cluster Munitions Coalition of Australia and Defence Minister Stephen Smith, on Fran Kelly's News Breakfast Program on ABC Radio National last week, which you can listen to here. If you are interested in exploring this issue further, I recommend checking out the website for the Landmines and Cluster Munition Monitor (www.the-monitor.org), which has an excellent database of information on cluster munitions and related activities internationally.
Well, last week the ALP caucus finally discussed whether to leave this loophole in the legislation open, and, disappointingly, appeared to meekly toe the Government line of sticking by US military interests and expanded US presence. Voting not to amend the Bill, Caucus decided instead to issue a policy statement outlining the Government's intention not to allow stockpiling on Australian soil. This is against a background of WikiLeaks revelations that Australia was doing the bidding of the US in attempting to weaken the treaty while it was being negotiated.
While it is a disappointing development, the campaign of the Cluster Munitions Coalition will continue and I urge you to add your voice to that campaign.
ALHR has agreed to add its logo to the brochure being used to advance the campaign including its 'send a sock' campaign. You may like to do whatever you think is appropriate to support the campaign.