By
LCDR Andrew Stackpool
Regional
security will be the hot issue in Darwin later this month at a
joint symposium.
On Monday 29 and Tuesday 30 September representatives of the ADF,
police and emergency services, government agencies, and experts
in terrorism, regional security, politics and illegal immigration
will meet at the Northern Territory University for the third Charles
Darwin Symposium Series to discuss regional security issues.
International, national and local experts will explore issues
that have arisen since the commencement of the War on Terror,
the attack in Bali and subsequent attacks in the Asia-Pacific
region
Speakers include former Defence Minister Kim Beazley, Professor
Paul Dibb, COMNORCOM, AIRCDRE Steven Walker, and North Australian
Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Ney.
Speakers will explore if the arc of instability and the north
of Australia are still relevant to Australia’s new defence
posture and will interpret the way the Defence Force will protect
the Top End in the future.
Security challenges in the Asia-Pacific region and the implications
for north Australia will be discussed, while the Al Qaeda network
in Southeast Asia and Australia will be investigated.
According to organizers, Territorians have not been geographically
insulated from recent dramatic world events with many of them
happening on their doorstep.
Northern Australians continue to be directly involved in responses
to the East Timor crisis that began in 1999 and the terror attack
in Bali in 2002.
Participants will hear how and why terrorist groups form and they’ll
be asked to consider issues surrounding asylum seekers, migrant
smuggling in the Asia Pacific region and the balancing of regional
security and human rights.
