Innehållsförteckning för 90.4 Oct-Dec 2019 från AQ: Australian Quarterly

AQ: Australian Quarterly|90.4 Oct-Dec 2019

A WORD

It is fundamental to human nature to want to see beyond the horizon–both literally and figuratively. From the earliest times, this instinct has inevitably led us into contact (and conflict) with other groups, it resulted in tribes, cities, and nations forming. We created religions, mechanisms of trade, and governments in order to interact with others amicably. Travel, economics, and technology brought the citizens of the world closer together and the Internet has since networked the globe. Humanity has never been so connected, or so interdependent. Yet what is Australia’s place in this endlessly complex web? For decades, Australia worked hard to be the tenacious little country at the big international table, to be respected across sport, culture and diplomacy for our generosity and genuineness. Yet in recent years our leaders…

2 min

AQ: Australian Quarterly|90.4 Oct-Dec 2019

The United Nations: A history of success and failure

The world is less peaceful than it was a decade ago. Economic instability is on the rise and a global recession is in the offing. The process of post-Cold War democratisation is now running in reverse across the globe. Climate change is reaping devastating impacts. Conflicts in Kashmir, Syria, South Sudan, Yemen, and Afghanistan continue to rage; while new conflicts are bubbling to the surface. Yet while global problems continue to mount, the problem-solving capacity of our politics continues to decline. Generally, national governments appear to lack the fortitude to embrace imaginative and far-reaching solutions. Multilateralism–the idea of governments working cooperatively–has stalled. Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold The United Nations (UN)–the bastion of the post-war global order–is seemingly overwhelmed. A clear-eyed assessment of the organisation might conclude the…

11 min

AQ: Australian Quarterly|90.4 Oct-Dec 2019

Dr Sarah Pearson

DR SARAH PEARSON DFAT Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Scientist Beginning her career with a PhD in particle physics at Oxford University, Dr Sarah Pearson has since tracked a unique path through research, industry, teaching, motherhood, and now international diplomacy. Along the way she was head of Open Innovation at Cadbury, a consultant for high tech companies at McKinsey &Co, and set up the Canberra Innovation Network before being hand picked to wear two important hats within Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). In 2015, Dr Pearson was part of an International Reference Group that helped establish DFAT’s innovationX-change program after then-Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, decided she wanted to inject innovation into Australia’s aid program. In 2018, she was asked to formally join DFAT to take the reins…

4 min

AQ: Australian Quarterly|90.4 Oct-Dec 2019

AQ Australian Quarterly

EDITOR: Grant Mills ASSISTANT EDITOR: Stephen Burke DESIGN AND PRODUCTION: Art Graphic Design, Canberra PRINTING: Newstyle Printing, Adelaide SUBSCRIPTIONS: www.aips.net.au/aq-magazine/subscribe ENQUIRIES TO: Stephen Burke, General Manager, AIPS, PO Box M145, Missenden Road NSW 2050 Australia Phone: +61 (02) 9036 9995 Fax: +61 (02) 9036 9960 Email: info@aips.net.au Website: www.aips.net.au/ aq-magazine/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/AQAustralianQuarterly ISSN 1443-3605 AQ (Australian Quarterly) is published by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science. This project is supported by the Commonwealth Government through a grant-in-aid administered by the Department of Finance and Deregulation. ACN 000 025 507 The AIPS is an independent body which promotes discussion and understanding of political, social and scientific issues in Australia. It is not connected with any political party or sectional group. Opinions expressed in AQ are those of the authors. DIRECTORS OF THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF…

2 min

AQ: Australian Quarterly|90.4 Oct-Dec 2019

Who cares? Science diplomacy and the global commons

This commentary is written in the context of the EL-CSID project [see WWW.EL-CSID.EU] that receives funding from the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under Grant agreement No. 693799. CONTACT: luk.van.langenhove@vub.be When most of us think of ‘the world’, it is easy to consider it a jigsaw puzzle of discrete nation-states, each lord over their own jealously-guarded territories. Yet most of the globe we live on falls outside of these neat jurisdictional boundaries–these are the earth’s shared natural resources such as the oceans, the atmosphere, the Antarctic, and outer space. These are the global commons, and they are the jurisdiction of all, and none. For parts of the planet that escape the governance of individual states, the big challenge is: who is taking responsibility for these global commons? To some…

14 min

AQ: Australian Quarterly|90.4 Oct-Dec 2019

Why a Fair Go should be the law

It’s been almost 71 years since the United Nations proclaimed the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. This milestone document was announced at the United Nations in Paris on December 10, 1948 and set out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected. Australia was a founding member of the United Nations and was instrumental in drafting the UDHR with Herbert “Doc” Evatt becoming the president of the UN General Assembly and overseeing the adoption of the UDHR. Since then, we have enjoyed some significant human rights wins including legislating equal pay, the 1967 constitutional referendum on Aboriginal rights and the legalisation of same-sex marriage — in my 12 years as National Director of Amnesty International Australia, we have seen a number of important changes, but the struggle…

11 min

AQ: Australian Quarterly|90.4 Oct-Dec 2019

Chasing the Artful Dodger Multinational tax avoidance

‘Now of course I am minimising my tax and if anybody in this country doesn't minimise their tax they want their heads read…’Kerry Packer giving evidence to the 1991 House of Representatives Committee of Inquiry into the Australian Print Media Industry1 when questioned about his tax payments. For most of us, paying taxes is an unavoidable but necessary civic duty. Yet for the modern corporation it has increasingly become a voluntary matter, with a prevailing sense that a corporation’s duty lies in avoiding tax, in order to maximise returns for shareholders. Milton Friedman (1970) famously dismissed views about the moral obligation of business when he said the duty of business is business, and ‘the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits’.2 That view persists, yet fortunately it remains…

13 min

AQ: Australian Quarterly|90.4 Oct-Dec 2019

Science Diplomacy in Action–Space Diplomacy

CASE STUDY BY: ANTHONY MURFETT, DEPUTY HEAD, AUSTRALIAN SPACE AGENCY The Australian Space Agency was established in July 2018 with a purpose to grow and transform a globally respected space industry. A key function of the Agency is to be the front door for Australia’s international engagement on civil space. Australia recognises that such engagement is essential not only to support growth of our space industry, but to support and promote the responsible use of outer space. This approach is reflected in the recently released Australian Civil Space Strategy, which sets a path to transform Australia’s civil space industry over the next 10 years. The Agency is committed to promoting a space sector culture that is globally respected, ensures national safety and security under an appropriate regulatory framework, and meets…

2 min

AQ: Australian Quarterly|90.4 Oct-Dec 2019

Global Compact on Refugees: Opportunities for Australian reform and leadership?

There is also a tendency on the part of some states to free-ride on the contributions of others, and to take advantage of global economic inequalities among states. Further, some states are erroneously convinced, in an era of increasing securitisation, that what is needed is not protection of refugees, but protection from refugees. The question of how international cooperation should be pursued in relation to refugees has been hotly debated since the origins of the modern international refugee regime. The primary international legal instrument for the protection of refugees, the 1951 Refugee Convention, recognised in a preambular statement that global refugee protection cannot be achieved without international cooperation. However, the Convention was not designed to regulate this collective action problem in full, and, accordingly, says little as to how this…

13 min