A Chinese telecoms giant blocked by the Federal Government from supplying equipment to the national broadband network (NBN) has been courting senior Liberal frontbenchers and Labor figures.

Huawei Technologies, which is close to becoming the world’s largest telecommunications equipment provider, was advised late last year that it could not tender for NBN contracts because of concerns about cyber attacks emanating from China.The Australian Financial Review reported today that ASIO advice provided the basis for the ban.A spokesman for Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said the $36 billion NBN was the “backbone of Australia’s information infrastructure” and as such, the government had a responsibility “to do our utmost to protect its integrity and that of the information carried on it”.“This is consistent with the government’s practice for ensuring the security and resilience of Australia’s critical infrastructure more broadly,” the spokesman said.

The minister has declined to comment on confidential discussions with Huawei.The federal parliamentary interests register shows Huawei has been courting senior coalition figures.The register shows Huawei’s Australian arm sponsored trips by the Opposition’s deputy leader Julie Bishop, finance spokesman Andrew Robb and frontbencher Bronwyn Bishop to China over the past eight months. READ MORE »

Written by Julie Bishop, 17 February 2012

The conflict in Syria has entered an even more dangerous phase, with the potential for a negotiated peace slipping away. The warning from a senior Syrian army defector that any collapse of the regime would have serious implications for the entire Middle East and beyond should be heeded. General Mustafa Ahmad al-Sheikh, currently in Turkey, is reported to have said, “The situation is now very dangerous and threatens to explode across the whole region, like a nuclear reaction.”

Similarly, the Arab League has warned that the regime’s use of heavy weapons such as artillery was a serious escalation that could see the country slide into full scale civil war. These concerns are being borne out by developments in recent days with car bombing attacks in the city of Aleppo targeting security forces and killing 28 people. There was also the assassination in Damascus of one of the regime’s most senior military officers. At the heart of this conflict are sectarian lines drawn between the 74 percent Sunni majority and the 12 percent Alawites (an offshoot of Shia Islam) who dominate the ranks of the regime.

It is an over-simplification of the situation in Syria to characterise the conflict as being driven solely by sectarian divides, however this is a critical factor within Syria and in the actions of other nations. The Sunni-dominated government of Turkey has come out strongly in support of the Syrian opposition, while the Shia-dominated government of Iran has continued to provide moral and material support to the Assad regime. Similarly, there has been strong condemnation of the Syrian regime from many of the Gulf Sunni monarchies, which regard Iran as a strategic rival. READ MORE »

Deputy Leader of the Opposition Julie Bishop and Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott met
His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik and Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark in Canberra
© AUSPIC 2011

Curtin’s Presbyterian Ladies’ College (PLC) has been named runner-up in the Junior Category of the 2011 Geologi Short Film Competition. Coinciding with the annual international Earth Science Week celebrations, the Geologi Short Film Competition was open to all primary and secondary students across Australia, and co-hosted by Geoscience Australia and the Australian Science Teachers Association. Federal Member for Curtin Julie Bishop said PLC’s 2011 entry, Science Rocks, was the third time the school had been recognised in the competition.

“I congratulate PLC students Noa Gubbay, Alice Ford, Cara Donnelly and Isabella Leunig on their outstanding achievements in promoting the important role Earth Sciences play in our everyday lives,” Ms Bishop said.

“As a resources and energy rich country much of Australia’s economic wealth and prosperity relies on our natural resources.

“It is important that young Australians understand the crucial role that geoscientists play in maintaining our energy security and I applaud Presbyterian Ladies’ College in engaging its students in the study of Earth Sciences.”

In 2009 PLC won the Junior Category of the Geologi Short Film Competition for its project Oil, and the 2008 Junior Category for its project Tornadoes

READ MORE »

Acting Opposition Leader Julie Bishop says the federal government should abandon the introduction of a carbon tax while international markets are in turmoil.

She says business and consumer confidence in Australia is still fragile, and the government should not impose a carbon tax on the economy now.

Her call came after Australian shares lost almost $60 billion in value on Friday, in line with massive stock market drops overseas, driven by new debt fears in Europe and concerns about the US economy.

source: http://bigpondnews.com

Published on Fairfax’s National Times website

There has been discussion in recent months about whether Australia should establish a sovereign wealth fund to capture the benefits of the mining boom to deliver long-term prosperity to the nation. This was a model championed by the Coalition government when it established several investment funds, with different purposes, but all with the same goal of putting aside part of the current prosperity for the future.

These funds included the Future Fund, which currently holds $75.15 billion and which was designed to help meet the previously unfunded obligations of federal government employees, including defence personnel and federal police. There was also a medical research infrastructure fund. After finally paying off Labor’s previous debt of $96 billion in 2006, the Coalition government also created a Higher Education Endowment Fund with an initial allocation of $6 billion. This fund was meant to be invested in perpetuity with the interest used to fund world-class infrastructure in our universities.

The vision was for the HEEF to increase through budget allocations and to attract donations from the corporate sector and from individuals, so that our universities would have access to a secure and growing source of funds. This vision was not shared by Labor’s new education minister Julia Gillard, who immediately changed the rules governing management of the fund to allow for drawdown on the capital. The change enabled Ms Gillard to use the fund as a form of patronage and to distribute money more quickly. This endowment fund is now effectively gutted. In what has become her hallmark, perceived short-term political gain took precedence over long-term vision for the nation. More recently, Prime Minister Gillard rejected the principle of a sovereign wealth fund for Australia arguing there was no need because of the funds invested by individuals through their superannuation accounts. READ MORE »