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Australian governments of both political persuasions have been embroiled in controversies over military cooperation with Indonesia since bilateral defence relations first began to gather steam under the Keating Labor government in the early 1990s. Prime Minister Paul Keating and Foreign Minister Gareth Evans were enthusiastic proponents of building strong ties with Indonesia, a policy which was extended to the military sphere with the establishment of two high level committees to coordinate and develop defence cooperation in 1994 (Ball and Kerr, 1996:70). These committees were later incorporated into an expanded defence agreement by the newly elected Howard Government in 1996, leading to the establishment of five working groups covering logistics, science and technology, communications, interoperability, education, training and exchanges (Walters, 1996:3).

Australian governments of both political persuasions have been embroiled in controversies over military cooperation with Indonesia since bilateral defence relations first began to gather steam under the Keating Labor government in the early 1990s. Prime Minister Paul Keating and Foreign Minister Gareth Evans were enthusiastic proponents of building strong ties with Indonesia, a policy which was extended to the military sphere with the establishment of two high level committees to coordinate and develop defence cooperation in 1994 (Ball and Kerr, 1996:70). These committees were later incorporated into an expanded defence agreement by the newly elected Howard Government in 1996, leading to the establishment of five working groups covering logistics, science and technology, communications, interoperability, education, training and exchanges (Walters, 1996:3).

Climate change of the magnitude and time frames projected by the world's leading climate scientists poses fundamental questions of human security, survival and the stability of nation states. While state weakness and destabilising internal conflicts are a more likely outcome than inter-state war, climate change will be a stress multiplier for all nations and societies, especially those already at risk from ethnic and religious conflicts, economic weakness and environmental degradation. Prudence and sensible risk management suggest that policymakers need to take this issue far more seriously. And strategic planners ought to include worst-case climate-change scenarios in their contingency planning, as climate change is set to rank with terrorism, pandemic diseases and major war as one of the principle challenges to security in the twenty-first century. (Survival / SWP)