Newsletter, Edition 3, Vol 2, April 2013

Newsletter, Edition 4, Vol 2, May 2013

Editor’s Welcome

The AIIA was in full swing this May, with lots of exciting guest speakers, an intern-organised event and of course, ‘Encounters: India’ in Brisbane.

Seminar-wise, we were fortunate enough to host a lecture by Her Excellency, Mrs Belen Fule Anota, Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to Australia. We also had the opportunity to hear from Professor Ronald Keith on “China’s changing leaders and unchanging policies”, as well as former academic and barrister, Mr James O’Neill on “The 10 year anniversary of the war on Iraq.” AIIA interns also hosted a seminar at USQ on “Private Military Companies and the Challenges they present for International Law.” This was presented by academic, Ms Pauline Collins.

This edition of the newsletter features some very diverse pieces. Intern Gina Williams reports on the latest cultural event to hit Brisbane – ‘Encounters: India’. We also hear from Alamelu Venkatesh, who examines corruption and fraud as issues of international security. Intern Bernadette O'Brien also updates us on her experiences as an AIIA intern. Finally, Sylvia Frain provides us with a snapshot of life in Timor-Leste through the lens of her camera.

Don’t forget to register for our latest seminar on 11 June with Dr Andrew Phillips, who presents on ‘Australia and the challenge of order building in the Indian Ocean’. If you have any feedback or wish to contribute, please email qld.branch@aiia.asn.au. Milly Arsic | AIIA Council Member

ENCOUNTERS: India Words and photos: Gina Williams Despite its inaugural year, the ‘Encounters: India’ festival did not fail to disappoint in its lineup of speakers, traditional dancers, artists, food and festivities. At the heart of this was the ‘Ties That Bind Us’ symposium. Sponsors such as Sangam, Australian India Business Council, New England College of Technology, Griffith University and the Australian Institute of International Affairs made the diverse, lively and reflective discussions that transpired at Southbank’s Gallery of Modern Art possible. Monash academic Dr. Amit Sarwal captured the essence of these discussions by signifying the ties that bind India and Australia together as being represented by 3 C’s; Commonwealth, Curry and Cricket. He further emphasised another C being founded upon Australia’s historic ties with India. Dr. Sarwal highlighted a poll in 1947, which showed that India was one of the first countries in Asia with which Australia wanted to have a formal diplomatic relationship. Since then, there has been an effort from either side to create social and cultural links with the most recent being the 2012 Oz Fest.

The materialisation of the 4th C united all the C’s and went by the catch-phrase ‘Cultural Diplomacy.’ This heading focused on cultural exchange, between the two countries, over cultural exaltation. Founder of the Lowy Institute Rory Medcalf’s opening presentation highlighted the importance of Cultural Diplomacy in furthering Australia-India relations especially in light of the recent Australia-India poll. This poll revealed that Australia was valued highly in terms of education, governance and society, ranking second to the United States. Day two of the symposium branched out from Cultural Diplomacy by focusing on bridging the cultures through education diplomacy. In order to address this intriguing issue, the symposium called upon Bond academic Dr. Caitlyn Byrne, First Impression Resources CEO Mike Wallace and Queensland’s Institute of Business and Technology Dr. Dipu Sebastian. Between them, they highlighted student mobility as being the core pillar of Australia’s public diplomacy efforts. At the climax of the symposium was a session that focused on the past 20 years of Australian-Indian relations. Chaired by the President of the AIIA, John McCarthy, with special guests Randeep Agarwal, Christopher Kremmer, Mrs Archana Singh and Michael Kasprowicz, this segment revealed the roots that have drawn the two countries together over the past two decades. Beside cricket, the past 20 years have seen a profound development of educational, scientific, health and business institutions that were made possible through the harmonious cooperation of both nations.

Corruption, Stability & Ethics Words: Alamelu Venkatesh Failed or weak states have significant implications on international order and security. Combined with the evident decline of traditional interstate threats, failed states also represent a challenge to the Westphalian model of international politics and are a fundamental challenge to conventional thinking. This author agrees with Newman’s argument that “in the conventional Westphalian vision of the world threats to international security comes primarily from powerful aggressive states; in the 21st century threats are equally likely to come from failing or weak states, or even non-state actors” (Newman, 2009, p.422). Good examples of this can be illustrated by the threat of al-Qaeda and 9/11. In this author’s opinion, globalisation is another important element of weak or failed states. Globalisation challenges socio-economic divisions and the defined patterns of politics which characterise the contemporary world. Therefore, failure of the state is generally accompanied by a growing privatisation of violence. On the other hand, failed and weak states such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Myanmar, the Philippines, Somalia and Zimbabwe are considered threats to other nations due to their ongoing conflicts and poor governance. This is claimed to have an international or global impact. For instance, weak nations like Afghanistan can be linked to destabilising migration since refugee flows into

Pakistan in the 1980’s and 1990’s increased a militarised radical uprising of the Taliban that finally took over control of the state, with extensive and demonstrable security implications. This author believes that failed and weak states are a point of transit or origin for the transfer of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons (Newman, 2009). However, not only do security threats arise from failed or weak states, but developed states as well. This article will now continue to explore fraud and corruption as major international concerns.

Fraud in the Australian context It is evident that the Australian Taxation Office and Centrelink have to deal with large sums of money losses each year. In 2005, the overall estimated cost of fraud in Australia was around $5.8 billion. Various types of fraud in Australia are in the areas of identity fraud, insurance fraud and welfare/benefit fraud. The most common public sector frauds are:

Evading payments owed to the government; Claiming unentitled benefits; Failing to provide goods and services to the

government despite contractual arrangements.

Issues concerning fraud and corruption in Australia are dealt with at both state and federal levels. There are nine separate jurisdictions in Australian federal law. Each legal system has its own common law and legislative offences involving fraud. Centrelink investigates fraud activities by sending letters to financial institutions, employers and local governments to confirm customer details. Further, customers’ family members, friends and neighbours are contacted to confirm information; customers are interviewed at customer service centres, as well as their income details being confirmed through their employers and the Australian Taxation Office. (The International Fraud and Corruption Report, 2006). On the other hand, it is hard to accurately determine the extent of identity fraud. Not everyone reports identity theft, primarily because many people are unaware when it happens. The impacts of identity fraud on victims are unquantifiable, both emotionally and financially. Each year, direct costs on identity fraud come to around $1.1 billion in Australia and around $626 million being concerned with response activities. Further, approximately 85% of corporate frauds are committed by employees, particularly senior managers. The indirect costs of fraud to business and government include damage to company reputation, brand and image (which are difficult to restore), impacts on staff morale and effects on business relationships. The most prevalent, however, is the long-term impact on share prices (Dixon, 2005).

This author believes that we need to examine society and the culture which cultivates fraud and corruption. A good example where corruption is seen and felt in many transactions, from the bottom to the top of the chain, is in India. Corruption exists with clerks, high-profile politicians, police officials, and the judiciary and government employees. In recent times, private Indian companies encourage corruption especially when dealing with international customers in order to lure remunerative contracts. People are vulnerable to corruption because of their low earnings. On the other hand, Indian society still features a cultural setup of having the "man of the house" to work for a living, while the wife usually deals with household work. This puts pressure on the man to make living more luxurious. It is the society, social upbringing and culture which play a crucial role in influencing an unsure mind. In the author’s view, the only way to stop corruption in developing nations will be through population control, which in turn improves quality of life and thus less competition and effective control of people and government processes. In the author’s opinion, both white collar and corporate crimes are offences which are committed in a business or under professional circumstances with the goal of making money. The crimes are not violent but do incur huge losses for investors, employers and employees. White collar crime affects central areas of contemporary life and at the same time tax and public sector frauds cuts down government resources for health, welfare and education. As Grabosky and Braithwaite (1987) state, crimes which are committed by agents who are acting on their behalf take a heavy toll on Australian society.

According to the 1985 Treasury’s Draft White Paper, revenue losses from tax fraud per year estimated at $3 billion AUD. On the other hand, each year at Australian workplaces, hundreds of people die and tens of thousands of people get seriously injured due to violations of occupational health and safety laws. According to the Australian Medical Association estimate in 1981, the cost of fraud and over-servicing by medical practitioners has reached $100 million per year. Corporate crime falls within the area of white collar crime and is a crime which is committed within the course of one’s occupation by those people who have relatively high social status. Honest business people often suffer economic disadvantages at the hands of those contenders who breach the law. Unfortunately employees, consumers and members of the public have to bear the cost of corporate crime (Grabosky & Braithwaite, 1987). Corruption is a form of transnational criminal activity which has no boundaries. It is a critical restraint on further developments which affects countries around the world. Corruption can have a negative impact on a society and it weakens the rule of law and democracy, changes market forces and eases various criminal activities such as organised crime and terrorism. This author believes that most corruption can be found in developing nations and failed states. For instance, when a state fails to deliver positive political goods to its people and also when governments lose legitimacy in the eyes and hearts of its citizens, corruption is the outcome.

This author believes that corruption has become a major international concern due to the rapid growth of the privatisation of public enterprises worldwide. It has a massive effect on both corporate ethics and good governance. As Shah (2008) states, corruption is both a major cause and a result of poverty around the globe. It occurs at all levels of society, from local and national governments, civil society, judiciary functions, large and small businesses, military and other services. Corruption affects the poorest the most, whether in rich or poor nations. On the other hand, multinational companies are engaged in corruption in order to gain contracts (particularly for public works and military equipment) and it is believed that Western businesses pay huge sums in bribes to win influence and contracts (Hawley, 2000).

In conclusion, combating corruption is a challenging issue and there is no single solution to this global problem. International co-operation is considered a predominant factor towards fighting global corruption. There is a requirement of a strong will power combined with a collaborative approach towards developing domestic and international techniques.

References: Australian Government 2007 report ‘Approaches to anti-corruption through the Australian aid program, Lessons from PNG, Indonesia and Solomon Islands, accessed at http://www.ode.ausaid.gov.au/publications/pdf/anti-corruption_assessment.pdf Croall. H (2001), ‘Understanding white collar crime’, Open University Press, Buckingham and Philadelphia, accessed at http://www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/openup/chapters/0335204279.pdf Croall. H (2001), ‘Victims of White-Collar and Corporate Crime’, accessed at http://www.uk.sagepub.com/stout/croall_white_collar%20-%20vics_crim_soc.pdf Dixon. N (2005), ‘Identity Fraud’, Queensland Parliamentary Library, Research Brief No. 03, accessed at http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/publications/documents/research/ResearchBriefs/2005/200503.pdf Grabosky. P & Braithwaite. J (1987), ‘Corporate crime in Australia’, Australian Institute of Criminology, trends & issues in crime and criminal justice, Report No.5, accessed at http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/D/9/E/%7BD9EE558C-C0BB-480D-93A7-F438A99284E0%7Dti05.pdf http://veeranath1.hubpages.com/hub/Stop_CorruptionSave_India Hawley. S (2000), ‘Exporting Corruption; Privatization, Multinationals and Bribery’, The Corner House Briefing 19, June 2000, accessed at http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/resource/exporting-corruption-0#index-01-00-00-00 Koskenmaki. Riikka (2004), ‘Legal Implications Resulting from State Failure in Light of the Case of Somalia’, Nordic Journal of International Law, 73:1-36, accessed at http://www.somali-jna.org/downloads/p1.pdf Newman. E (2009), ‘Failed States and International Order: Constructing a Post-Westphalian World’, Contemporary Security Policy, Vol. 30, No. 3 (December 2009), pp.421-443 accessed at http://www.contemporarysecuritypolicy.org/assets/CSP-30-3-Newman.pdf Pelovangu. R (2010), ‘Crimes of the Powerful: White-Collar Crime and Corporate Crime’, accessed at http://crime.suite101.com/article.cfm/crimes-of-the-powerful Rotberg, R.I (2002), ‘The New Nature of Nation-State Failure’, The Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Washington Quarterly, Summer 2002, 25:3, pp.85-96, accessed at http://www.twq.com/02summer/rotberg.pdf Shah. A (2008), ‘Corruption’, Global Issues article, December 27, 2008, accessed at http://www.globalissues.org/article/590/corruption The International Fraud and Corruption Report (2006), A study of selected countries, © 2006 NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service, accessed at http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/CounterFraud/Documents/International_fraud_and_corruption_report.pdf

Corruption Perceptions Index 2009: Transparency International

Interning with the AIIA Words: Bernadette O'Brien Founded in 1924, the AIIA is one of the most established international affairs think tanks in Australia. As a student at the Australian National University, I have attended multiple Canberra-based events held in collaboration with the AIIA and was impressed by this organisation’s ability to provide a forum for debate on a variety of topical issues. The quality of speakers and debate sparked my interest in getting more involved with the AIIA. I wanted to take my interest in international affairs to the next level by embarking on an internship. Whilst interning at the Brisbane branch, I have had the opportunity to work on a plethora of projects and engage with a variety of stakeholders that are affiliated with the AIIA. Sometimes students get trapped in the “university bubble” so it is important to challenge ideas and views that are not necessarily espoused by academics. At AIIA events, members from all sectors attend and give presentations. For example the Egyptian and Pilipino Ambassadors, a counterinsurgency expert from the ADF, as well as academics from Bond University and Griffith University have all given presentations over the past few weeks. AIIA interns were given exclusive access to a briefing on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations held in Brisbane last week. My involvement with the AIIA has given me countless opportunities that I would not have experienced outside of this internship. Along with networking opportunities, and being exposed to new ideas, I have benefited from my project-based experience. Each intern is assigned a personally tailored project and mine was to organise a speaker event at the University of Southern Queensland.

I have enjoyed the managerial experience of this exercise, along with meeting other like-minded students and professors. Interns are given the opportunity to publish pieces in the monthly newsletter and are encouraged to develop their understanding of international relations by attending fortnightly guest speaker events. Interns are selected from all undergraduate backgrounds and graduates are also encouraged to get involved. If you are passionate about international relations and would like to take your interest to the next level, I would encourage you to get involved with the closest AIIA branch to you.

(Left – Right): Interns Bernadette O’Brien and Gina Williams hosting a sausage sizzle

Timor-Leste: A Successful Peace-building Example Words and photos: Sylvia Frain “Considering that the entire country was laid to waste and half the population forcibly displaced from their homes just twelve years ago, East Timor's current strength and stability ought to be seen as something of a success story.” Geoffrey Robinson, the UN High Commission for Refugees acknowledges Timor-Leste's long journey from conflict to peace (2011:1010).

Since gaining official independence in 2002, numerous long-term peace-building projects by indigenous and international organisations are collaboratively rebuilding Timor-Leste and "a culture of violence to a sustainable culture of peace" is being created (Durnan 2005: 108). Through these partnerships, "a strong commitment to the development of a tolerant, democratic, East Timorese State" is taking place at the local, national and international level (Dunn 2006: 109). Plan Timor-Leste, part of Plan International, Inc. is an international humanitarian, child-centred community development organisation without religious, political or governmental affiliation. Plan has worked in Timor-Leste since 2001 and currently has programs in Dili, Aileu and the Lautem districts with a focus on six main sectors: Learning, Water and Environmental Sanitation (WES), Emergency/Recovery, Child Rights/Child Protection (CR/CP), Youth Participation and Youth Livelihoods, including Women's Vocational Training (Plan 2011). Plan Timor-Leste has operated the Youth Livelihoods program in Lautem, the most easterly district of the island

and home to indigenous Fataluku-language-speakers, since 2006. The program was created in response to the influx of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) into the district because of the violence and conflict in Dili. Regions such as Lautem, which are on the "margins of capitalism" often do not receive the same economic developmental support as in the capital, Dili (McWilliam 2011: 745, 47). Plan Timor-Leste recognised this and the program has shifted and adapted as the peace-building process has changed within Lautem. From 2007-2009 the emphasis turned to Vocational Training to ensure that youth have access to adequate income and the opportunity to participate productively in their communities. Since 2010, the Youth Livelihoods project has been working with 25 groups in the Lautem district and who have received a range of trainings aimed at fostering vocational skills, creating small business development, teaching conflict resolution techniques and organisational management whilst encouraging leadership roles. By 2010, only 33.5% of participants were women within the Youth Livelihoods Program, falling short of the target of 50% for women’s participation. In response to this, Plan Timor-Leste developed the Women’s Vocational Training project that supports women's leadership and economic empowerment. This is necessary to reduce poverty, enhance economic growth and democracy and increase the wellbeing of women, girls and their families (Plan 2011). Culturally sensitive socialisations were held at district and subdistrict levels involving village chiefs, local leaders, women’s organisations and youth councils. All villages in three sub-districts in Lautem were invited and agreements were signed by either the village or sub-village chief.

This ensures that the Youth Livelihoods and Women's Vocational Training groups are linked with local support structures and that local community is invested in the project. This grassroots level is the "domain where positive transformative potential emerges... and without community participation, the rebuilding process will lack accountability and transparency" (Bleiker 2001: 71, 72). Plan understands this approach, and through focus group discussions, the young women from Lauten identified the training needs themselves and are collaboratively implementing the groups. Plan works with local and international NGOs, businesses, and government partners to deliver these vocational courses to young women. In 2011, Plan Timor-Leste created a partnership with the Business Development Aide Institute (Instituto de Apoio au Desenvolvimento Empressarial, also referred to as the Centre for Business Development (Centro de Desenvolvimento Empresarial, CDE) to train participants from the projects in order to create a direct relationship between participants and government service providers (Plan 2011). CDE provides training in business, organisational and financial management to all groups before attending the vocational four-day training. This training covers technical and mechanical issues such as troubleshooting, maintenance procedures such as changing oils, as well as business management skills. This year, CDE is opening a centre in Lautem and provides back-up support to trainees at district offices such as through project monitoring and business plan evaluation.

Make Shift Medicine Words and photo: Sylvia C. Frain

The Photo Essay

Women's Vocational Training Program; Repairing Sewing Machines: Lautem District, Timor-Leste

The Women’s Vocational Training; Repairing Sewing Machines, is the only all-female project aimed at encouraging young women to participate productively in their communities through vocational trainings, capacity building workshops and empowerment activities. It is designed to encourage young women to form income generation groups to have access to adequate income opportunities, and provide opportunities to participate productively through leadership roles in their groups and communities. Prior to the training, most of the young women participants primarily cared for the family household. However, within two years, 140 young women in the Lautem district have completed the four-day training, have increased their skills and knowledge of sewing machines, have the ability to gain employment and create income and have even started their own businesses. The Women’s Vocational Training project has a target of reaching 400 young women throughout Timor-Leste within the next few years. The continuous challenge of reaching this target is that many parents do not authorise their daughters to attend training outside of their villages (Plan 2011). This exhibits the importance of having the training take place within the district and community, too often left out of the development sector within Dili.

Coordinator of Plan's Youth Livelihoods Program Lautem district, Virgilia Cabral, speaks with the vocational training teacher, Domingos.

Young children of the vocational participants wait patiently during the training.

The purpose of having a female only group is to create an empowering learning

environment for the women and their children, who are often not far away.

The participants of the entirely female vocational training group are from the Latuem region and all under thirty years old.

Plan Timor-Leste continues to support the women after they complete the vocational training program and become employed in the capital Dili.

When the women are asked about the experience, they are for the most part happy with the opportunities the training has provided for them. The income they earn is used to support their families in the districts and goes towards buying school supplies for their children including books, pencils, and pens. To find out more about Plan Timor-Leste's work please visit: http://plan-international.org/where-we-work/asia/timor-leste/about