Australia's Antarctic agenda

Australia has had a long connection with, and significant national interests in, the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. The Australian Antarctic Territory comprises 42 per cent of Antarctica's landmass. Australia is not only a claimant state and original signatory to the Antarctic Treaty but has played a significant role in the development of what is termed the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS). This article aims to provide an overview of Australia's key policy interests and government policy goals towards Antarctica, including its commitment to the ATS. In examining key policy objectives we note that despite continuity and development of these objectives, significant changes and challenges have arisen in the period 1984–2006. It is these challenges that will help frame Australia's Antarctic agenda over the next 20 years and beyond.     

The policy roles of bureaucrats and politicians in New Zealand∗

This paper presents four case studies of policy‐making in New Zealand in an attempt, firstly, to examine the relative roles of bureaucratic and political policy actors and, secondly, to suggest some factors which might account for the variation found in both these and other observed cases. This is done on the basis of distinguishing between types of policy (as suggested by Theodore J. Lowi) according to their likelihood to engender conflict The findings are discussed in relation to the workings of other Westminster political systems (Britain, Canada, Australia). The conclusion is drawn that while politicians are sometimes involved in policy‐making to only a minimal extent, they should still be held responsible for what emerges from that process.     

Learning from the RSPT mistakes: is reform still possible?

The political ramifications of the failed Resources Super Profit Tax have been widely documented, yet the causes of this political failure are more contested. Many accounts highlight the discursive power of business and the effectiveness of their campaign against the mining tax. Effective business activism certainly played its part, but this article argues that strategic failings on the part of government also influenced the outcome. This article highlights how the Labor government's failure to consult, to understand the political implications of federalism and above all its impact on the industry in the hope that future policymakers will learn from the mistakes of the mining tax debacle.     

Salmon and fruit salad: Australia's response to world trade organisation quarantine disputes

The introduction of new quarantine disciplines under World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements has given rise to tensions within the Australian federation over quarantine measures. This paper examines WTO disciplines and rules as they affect trade in agriculture and food products. It highlights the significance of risk assessment in the policy process relating to quarantine, identifies key issues arising from the WTO Australia—Salmon case and outlines the cases currently tabled at the WTO for settlement with Australia named as respondent. The paper concludes by identifying the lessons from the salmon case in terms of intergovernmental interaction and policy learning within the Australian federation.     

The Development of Environmental Administration in Queensland and Western Australia: Why are they Different?

Western Australia and Queensland are often seen as the most developmentalist states in the Australian federation, largely because they remained less developed for longer and have seen much mineral and agricultural development in the latter part of the twentieth century. Developmentalism is usually seen as anathema to a commitment to environmental policy, which most states have taken on in response to environmentalism in the same period, yet these two developmentalist states exhibit markedly different trajectories in response to this environmentalist stimulus. This paper explores the reasons for these differences, finding a variety of causal factors including both socioeconomic influences (such as affluence and demographics), political structures, and personalities and the force of ideas. It suggests that we should be wary of monocausal explanations of such differences.     

A new process for negotiating multilateral environmental agreements? The Asia–Pacific climate partnership beyond Kyoto

The Kyoto Protocol is widely regarded as representing a failed approach to the problem of climate change, especially since the US and Australia have declined to ratify, and developing countries such as India and China—sources of much future emissions growth—have signalled an unwillingness to take on obligations for binding reductions within the framework of an extended Kyoto-like instrument. A new Asia–Pacific Partnership to deal with the problems has emerged and held its first meeting in Sydney in January 2006. Involving Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and the US, this new partnership provides not only an approach better suited to the interests and resource endowments of the region, but a new model for negotiating multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). In the past, MEAs have been beset by a dilemma, in that the slow pace of their negotiation was overcome by devices (such as lowest common denominator measures, creative ambiguity, iterative functionalism, and double standards provisions) that limited their effectiveness. This article argues that by involving only six parties which account for half of existing emissions, the new Partnership provides the opportunity for better policy to be developed among a smaller number of parties, with the potential to overcome the pitfalls of past MEAs.