In accordance with the standing requirements for all departments to be accountable to their Ministers, and through them publicly to Parliament and to the people of Australia, I am submitting the attached annual report of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade covering the financial year 1993-94.
The attached report covers a year marked by a strengthening of economic cooperation and the achievement of several major aims of Australia’s international policy. The successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round promises to bring significant benefits to the whole international community, while the first APEC leaders’ meeting, held in Seattle in November 1993, provided valuable impetus to the development of further economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific.
The agreement to establish the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), for discussions on security issues involving all major regional states, secured another important Australian objective.
Under its new corporate plan, the Department strengthened its concentration during 1993-94 on the pursuit of Australian international economic interests. At the same time, the Department maintained its concern with securing a peaceful regional and global environment, the building of fair and workable regimes and institutions to govern relations between nation states, the promotion of human rights, and the protection of Australian citizens overseas.
I have sought to encourage the Department’s officers, at all levels, to see their tasks as contributing to achieving a future for Australia in this increasingly competitive and uncertain world, a future which, in keeping with wider Australian aspirations, will be prosperous, secure and honourable. To make the most effective contribution to this future the Department needs to continue to develop its professionalism, managerial skills and versatility. It must have the ability to respond effectively to changes in the Government’s agenda, and in the international environment, as well as act as the representative of the Australian community while maintaining the highest standards of efficiency and service.
This report demonstrates, I believe, that progress has been made towards these objectives, and that the Department’s priorities have been set effectively and have brought positive benefits to Australia.
The close attention paid to critical developments in the multilateral environment, was an example of this focus. The successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round was a significant success for Australian efforts to encourage greater international trade liberalisation, particularly in agriculture and services. It is expected that the round will bring economic benefits valued at more than $2 billion to Australia. Since the end of the round, the Department has been consolidating Australia’s position in the Asia- Pacific, as well as ensuring that Australia’s interests are reflected in the agenda of the new World Trade Organisation.
In contrast to the advances towards an improved multilateral trading system, the international security environment remained uncertain, with many of the problems arising from the end of the Cold War unresolved-in particular, a continuing threat of proliferation of nuclear and non-nuclear weapons. Major UN operations continued in Somalia and the former Yugoslavia with uncertain hopes of a final resolution. The horrific collapse of Rwanda into civil war and genocide placed further demands on the UN system and emphasised the need to create an international consensus on the role of the UN in the post-Cold War environment. The Department continued to make an active contribution to the debate on these issues.
The holding of a leaders’ meeting in Seattle in November 1993 marked a further stage in the consolidation of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) concept. The meeting, originally proposed by the Prime Minister, Mr Keating, underlined at the highest political level the commitment of members to objectives identified for APEC and the region, and reached agreement on a second summit to be held in Jakarta in November 1994.
The East Asia Analytical Unit continued to produce high quality reports on the opportunities facing Australia in the expanding economies of East and South-East Asia. The unit produced three major research reports in 1993-94, Changing Tack: Australian Investment in South-East Asia, ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA): Trading Block or Building Block? and India’s Economy at the Midnight Hour: Australia’s India Strategy. The unit also commenced a research project on the growing economic relationship between Australia and Indonesia. In addition to its research projects, the unit has issued a number of working papers.
The Department was closely involved in promoting the ideas set out in Senator Evans’s book, Cooperating for Peace: The Global Agenda for the 1990s and Beyond. This book has had a major impact on the debate on the role of the UN in the international system since its publication in September 1993 and the Department has sought to generate international support for its recommendations.
The Department promoted the Team Australia concept under the National Trade Strategy Consultative Process (NTSCP) which joins the Commonwealth and State governments, industry, and unions in a collaborative effort to ensure that Australia is in the front rank of exporting economies by the year 2000. The NTSCP focused in 1993-94 on major policy areas such as global trade issues, including the link between trade and the environment, micro-economic reform and a range of coordination issues. NTSCP participants strongly supported the continuation of the ‘Australian trade and investment development’ paper which identifies objectives in 30 priority export markets over the next 18 months, and outlines the Government’s many trade and investment strategies for the commodities, manufacturing and service sectors.
The Department organised the first National Trade and Investment Outlook Conference (NTIOC) in November 1993. NTIOC was designed to bring together decision-makers from small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as mainstream corporate Australia, to assist in better informing Australian businesses on international market developments and opportunities. The conference attracted about 1000 participants and was a major success in providing Australian exporters with the opportunity to gain strategic market intelligence and create new business contacts.
As part of its efforts to increase the visibility of Australian businesses in key markets, the Department, in conjunction with Austrade, mounted major trade and industry exhibitions in Japan and Indonesia. In Japan, business and cultural activities were combined in Celebrate Australia to promote Australia’s cultural and economic achievements to Japanese businesses and investors. Australia Today Indonesia ’94, held in Jakarta in June 1994, highlighted Australia’s successes in trade and industry, science and technology as well as education and the arts. The promotion reflected the fact that Indonesia is Australia’s second fastest growing major trade partner. More than 200 Australian companies, and a large contingent of Federal and State Ministers participated, demonstrating the value of the Team Australia concept.
Through its network of overseas missions, the Department provided strong support for Sydney’s successful bid for the 2000 Olympic Games. The Department is confident that the games will give Australia an excellent opportunity to showcase its economic and technological skills and resources.
Close attention was paid to the overall bilateral relationship with the US, but the Department also sought to highlight to American policy makers the importance of the Asia-Pacific region and the APEC process to the US. The Prime Minister’s visit to the US in September 1993, a number of other ministerial visits during the year and the Australia-United States Ministerial Talks in March 1994 all highlighted the growing economic and security linkages within the region. The Department also pursued bilateral trade issues, making progress on intellectual property and civil aviation issues in particular.
Following the June 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, the Department coordinated preparation of a national action plan. Australia was the first country to complete a plan. The Department also continued to promote the Government’s human rights agenda in a number of other areas, including the prevention of sexual exploitation of children and the rights of indigenous peoples.
The Department continued to pursue the Government’s environmental agenda, playing an active role in preparations for a Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, adopted in December 1993, and in negotiations on the text of a convention on desertification. The text of the convention, which was adopted in June 1994, met Australia’s concerns that the convention be global in scope and application and that it stress the causes of desertification. The Department was also active in attempting to ensure that international trade and environment policies were mutually supportive.
The international community remained deeply concerned with the DPRK’s non- compliance with its nuclear safeguards obligations. As Chair of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for most of the year, Australia played an important role in formulating the international community’s response to this issue. The Department also lobbied extensively for the indefinite extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
The Department continued to work towards the early conclusion of a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and Australia tabled a comprehensive new draft treaty text in March 1994. The Department played an active role in the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the strengthening of the Biological Weapons Convention. Australia also became increasingly involved in efforts to strengthen the Inhumane Weapons Convention provisions on land mines.
The Australian Safeguards Office (ASO), now responsible for administering Australia’s domestic obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention, was transferred from the Primary Industries and Energy portfolio to the Foreign Affairs and Trade portfolio. The ASO continues to be responsible for the administration of Australia’s obligations under the NPT.
The Department continued to pay close attention to Australia’s relations with countries of the South Pacific. Participation by the Prime Minister and Mr Bilney in the South Pacific Forum in August 1993, and visits to the region by Mr Bilney, underlined the importance Australia places on the region. Mr Bilney also made a major policy statement on Australia’s relations with countries of the South Pacific in June 1994.
The Department’s consular services, with passport services its most public and visible face, remained in high demand throughout the year. As usual, the most dramatic consular cases, such as the tragic kidnapping and murder of Kellie Wilkinson in Cambodia and the prolonged detention without trial in China of James Peng, attracted extensive media attention. These unfortunate cases, however, illustrate only part of the consular workload with more than two million Australians travelling overseas each year. The Department provided support for Australians imprisoned overseas and with inquiries relating to overseas emergencies.
In an effort to further improve the quality and productivity of its performance, the Department introduced a continuous improvement program in November 1993. Task forces examining personnel and administrative practices have been established under the program.
The Department continued to promote the economic and social advancement of developing countries through the aid program administered by the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau (AIDAB). Australia’s overseas development assistance totalled $1.4 billion in 1993-94. This included new programs in family planning and health, new programs of assistance for Palestine and South Africa, and significant four-year aid commitments to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
Program development activities in Papua New Guinea continued to concentrate on the transition from budget support to increased levels of jointly programmed aid, based upon agreed programs of support which represent a more effective framework for the delivery of aid to PNG. The reshaping of the aid relationship with the South Pacific evolved during 1993-94 with an emphasis in the program on the development of sound long-term environmental management practices, creation of a suitable policy environment for the growth of private sector activity, the increasing importance of technical and vocational training, and the transfer of technical skills to promote the effective maintenance of existing infrastructure.
AIDAB was given firm direction for its future programs through the release of the corporate plan for the period 1994 to 1996, which identifies AIDAB’s priorities and emphasises forward-looking strategies.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been, and will continue to be at the forefront of Australia’s engagement with the rest of the world. This is an important and demanding responsibility and efforts will continue to upgrade the Department’s technical abilities and the professional skills of its staff.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Annual Report 1993-94 is provided in accordance with sub-sections 9B(2), 25(6) and 25(7) of the Public Service Act 1922.
Sub-section 34C of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 requires the report to be furnished as soon as practicable and in any event by 31 December. Sub-section 25(8) of the Public Service Act requires the report to be placed before each House of Parliament within 15 sitting days after the day on which Ministers receive it.
This report includes information about agencies in the Foreign Affairs and Trade portfolio which do not submit separate annual reports to Parliament, including the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau (AIDAB) and the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS). It complies with sub-section 8(3) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, sub-section 22C(10A) of the Public Service Act (on industrial democracy), section 74 of the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Act 1990 and section 20 of the Political Broadcasting and Political Disclosures Act 1991, inserted as section 311A into the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, as well as the Government’s requirements for the preparation of annual reports and section 50 of the Audit Act 1901.
M.J. Costello