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Stopping the spread of terror

Jo Tan and Sascha Kaminski report on how Strategic Policy Division is leading the way in counter-proliferation initiatives.

A boarding party rappelles from a Super Puma to board the Tokyo Summer during Exercise Pacific Protector, held in the Coral Sea during September 2003. Photo provided by Navy News.

Strategic Policy Division has successfully hosted a major international conference focusing on efforts to combat trafficking in weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) meeting, held in Sydney in December last year, involved 180 participants from 19 countries, chaired by Head of Strategic Policy Major-General Frank Roberts. Assistant Secretary, Governance and Counter-Proliferation Murray Perks led the Australian delegation.

The PSI is designed to combat the proliferation and trafficking of WMD. It operates through practical actions of countries to interdict and deter shipments of WMD, using existing national legal authorities and relevant international law and frameworks.

The Minister for Defence, Robert Hill, delivered the meeting's opening speech, which covered the challenges of WMD globally and efforts Australia has made to combat this challenge.

"We have expanded our regional outreach on export controls and promoted support for the PSI. Over the past year, Australian experts have undertaken outreach visits and provided training to several regional countries, as well as discussed cooperative activities with the US and Japan," Senator Hill said.

"Since its inception in May 2003, the PSI has proven itself to be a practical and effective tool for addressing illicit WMD and missile-related trade. It potentially brings the full weight of participating countries' respective interdiction capabilities and legal powers to bear on those who continue to traffic in WMD without consideration for their international obligations. More than 60 countries now support the initiative - clear evidence of the truly global scope of the initiative."

Australia was one of the first 11 countries to participate in the PSI, and hosted the second meeting in Brisbane in July 2003. Defence also hosted the first PSI exercise (Pacific Protector), a maritime interdiction scenario off the Queensland coast in September 2003, and participated in the subsequent 14 exercises.

Over the horizon ... Minister for Defence Robert Hill with Gun Direction Platform lookout, Seaman Bosun's Mate Douglas Kidd onboard HMAS Melbourne for Exercise Pacific Protector, held in the Coral Sea off northern Queensland in September 2003. It involved about 800 military and law enforcement personnel from around the world.
Exercise Pacific Protector was the first in a series of maritime, air and land interdiction training exercises agreed by members of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) meeting in Paris in 2003.
Photo by AB Neil Richards.

Late last year, Defence sent HMAS Arunta and a specialist Customs boarding team to Exercise Team Samurai in Tokyo Bay, Japan.

The operational experts group meets regularly with the recent Sydney meeting being the eighth meeting. Australia invited regional neighbours Thailand and New Zealand to increase the participation of countries within the Asia-Pacific region.

Senator Hill noted that the Asia-Pacific region hosted high volumes of trade, major transhipment hubs and a growing production base in dual-use commodities and technologies, making it imperative to expand Asia-Pacific countries' support for and, where possible, involvement in the PSI.

Key outcomes from the Sydney meeting included confirming the exercise program until early 2006, deciding on the way ahead for future meetings and deciding on future outreach to industry. A number of these issues had been discussed at previous meetings, and delegates were pleased to resolve them in Sydney.

The US will host the group's next meeting, scheduled for late March.

Australia also plays a particularly prominent role in relation to chemical and biological controls as Chair of the Australia Group. Australia will host the 20th-anniversary meeting of the Australia Group in Sydney next April and the third senior-level meeting of the Asian Export Control Policy Dialogue later in the year.

Jo Tan and Sascha Kaminski are members of Strategic Policy Division.

For further information on the PSI:
proliferationsecurity.info, www.state.gov or www.dfat.gov.au
The Minister's speech can be viewed at:
http://www.minister.defence.gov.au/hill/speeches.cfm |

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