From the ABC;
Defence Force considers South Pacific recruitment
.
A spokesman for the Defence Personnel Minister De-Anne Kelly has confirmed it will be part of a review of how to increase recruitment into the ADF, although he says it is in the early stages.
A Canberra-based defence analyst Mark Thomson says one suggestion is to recruit up to 2,000 Pacific Islanders into the Australian Army.
The ADF is having problems meeting recruitment targets. Low unemployment and skills shortage being the ADF's explanation for it. Unlike the US, the ADF is not heavily engaged in Iraq, certainly not to breaking point as the US Army, US National Guard and Marines are.
I have no problem with the ADF recruiting in the South Pacific, or even New Zealand. It is fitting with the history of the Australian Army. During World War I, the Army asked if you were a subject of the King, and even if you replied no, they still took you. The Australian Imperial Force contained Danes, Russians, Americans, Canadians, English, Singaporeans, New Zealanders, English, Irish, Scots - all sorts.
I see recruiting outside of Australia as consistent with the history of the Australian military.
The
US is restoring military ties with Indonesia
after breaking them off over East Timor. Since then Indonesia has been working to remove the military from being the police of the country and entwined in the policy and budget. This is another step in the right direction for Indonesia. Australia is facing the real possibility of having a new China on its front doorstep - but in the case of Indonesia, it will be democratic.
From the article;
"The Administration considers the relationship between the United States and Indonesia, the world's third largest democracy, to be of the utmost importance," Mr McCormack said.
He said Indonesia played a unique strategic role in South-East Asia and was a voice of moderation in the Islamic world. "Indonesia has made significant progress in advancing its democratic institutions and practices in a relatively short time."
Very, very true; and very, very impressive in my opinion. Prior coverage of Indonesia on South Sea Republic;
I remain a fan of Indonesia's progress and convinced that Australian greater prosperity will come through Indonesian prosperity.
cam
It
remains Alexander Downer's turn to answer that question
.
Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer has signed a non-aggression treaty with Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Signing the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in South-East Asia was the condition for Australia's admission to the East Asia Summit.
Heh. From the World Today;
Amity treaty spells an end to Australia's pre-emption policy
The treaty specifically calls for signatories to renounce the threat of the use of force, emphasising respect for territorial integrity, free from external interference or coercion.
Indonesia was the first to say it meant the end of John Howard's pre-emptive strike policy in Asia. Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar was less explicit, but said Canberra understood the implications of what it was signing up to.
Which suggests the pre-emption was just talking tough prior to an election. But in November 2004, Downer raised a good point in how the Treaty limited Australia. Downer said;
"(This) has been interpreted by successive Australian governments as making it impossible for any Australian government for example to criticise Burma on human rights issues," Mr Downer told ABC TV.
Yet at the pre-ASEAN conference in Kuala Lumpar
Malaysia has been strident in criticising Burma, with Downer joining in
. So has this issue with the Treaty been resolved? Was this the only sticking point? Journalists can feel free to ask Alexander Downer these questions.
Anything that brings us toward Indonesia is a good thing in my opinion. South Pacific prosperity is going to come through Australia and Indonesia having a tight political, diplomatic, economic and trading relationship. Our prosperity will come through Indonesia, just as their prosperity will come through us.
cam
Most Popular on South Sea Republic
The articles that have been viewed the most:
Most Popular Restaurants in Phoenix
Phoenix Eats Out is the restaurant review site for
Phoenix,
Scottsdale and
Old Town Scottsdale which lists the modernist and contemporary restaurants, taverns and bars in the greater Phoenix area.
This is the list of the most popular restaurants pages from phoenixeatsout.com that have been viewed the most;
My personal favourite restaurants in Phoenix are
AZ88,
Postinos,
Bomberos with
Grazie,
Humble Pie,
Orange Table,
The Vig,
Fez and others coming close behind. View the complete list with the photo-journalistic style images on
phoenixeatsout.com
Most Popular Hikes in Arizona
Arizona is an outdoor state and has lots of hiking in the city and around the state. Phoenix is unusual for most cities in having several large mountains in the center of the city with great hiking. Anyone who comes to Phoenix has to do the
Echo Canyon trail on Camelback and the
Summit Hike on Squaw Peak or Piesta Peak. The views of the city, suburbs and surrounding mountains are wonderful from Camelback and Piesta Peak.
For more experienced hikers there is the McDowell Mountains in North Scottsdale that has several difficult and strenuous hikes in
Tom's Thumb and
Bell Pass. Alternatively, you can hike the highest mountain in Arizona. At 12,600 feet
Humphrey's Peak is a long and difficult hike.
Alternate Australian Constitutions
Between 2004 and 2009 this site,
southsearepublic.org, was a constitutional blog based on scoop which focused on Australian and global constitutional issues.
One of the strongest aspects of it was the development of constitutions by those involved in the blog. These constitutions are the outcome:
The constitutions were built using principles from Montesquieu's separation of powers, the enlightnment's universal political rights and the ancient Athenian technology of sortition and choice by lot.
Archives For South Sea Republic
South Sea Republic started in 2004 as an Australian constitutional blog in 2004 based on scoop software. It was an immigrative outgrowth of Kuro5hin. The archives for each year since then;
The articles are ordered by views.
Who Is Cam Riley
I am an Australian living in the United States as a permanent resident.
I am a software developer by trade and mostly work in Java and jump between middleware and front end.
I originally worked in the New York area of the United States in telecommunications before moving to Washington DC and
working in a mix of telecommunications, energy and ITS. I started my own software company before heading out to
Arizona and working with Shutterfly. Since then I have joined a startup in the Phoenix area and am thoroughly enjoying myself.
I do a lot of photography which I post on this website, but also on flickr. I have a photo-journalistic website which lists
the modernist and contemporary restaurants in phoenix. I have a site on the
Australian Flying Corps [AFC] which has been around since the 1990s and which I unfortunately
lost the .org URL to during a life event; however, it is under the
www.australianflyingcorps.com URL now.
The AFC website has gone through several iterations since the 90s and the two most recent are
Australian Flying Corps Archives(2004-2002) and
Australian Flying Corps Archives(2002-1999) which are good places to start.
Websites Worth Reading
Websites of friends, colleagues and of interest;
