Military - US/Australia Alliance

1. Stephen Smith is the defence minister of the Australian Government.


2. The Brookings institution  is a non for profit public policy organisation based in Washington DC, America were Mr Smith also gave his speech. The Brookings Institution It works on three key policy's: 

• Strengthen American democracy;
• Foster the economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of all Americans and
• Secure a more open, safe, prosperous and cooperative international system

3. The Australia/US alliance is very important to Australia's Strategic and Security arrangements. Australia's national interest for the US to be active and engaged in the Asia-Pacific, as the region became the world's centre of gravity and as economic, political, military and strategic influence shifted. - Mr Smith

4. This alliance is important as because Australia is so far away from everything else as it is situated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean if was to become in trouble war related they would be in alot of trouble without the help of another big nation such as the US so therefore this alliance is very important to Australia.

5. Australia have made several contributions to this alliance in the last 50 years. They have been to many wars that the US has been involved in such as the war in Iraq, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Pakistan and many other others. Australia have also assisted in systems related to intelligence collection, ballistic-missile early warning, submarine communications, and satellite-based communications.

6. This minister said that '9000 Australian companies did business in the US. They pay an average wage of $US70,000 ($63,490) per employee per annum and include your largest shopping-centre owner and two of your largest 20 banks' 

7. The minister added this to prove the point that Australia do not just use the US for security they do business with them as a nation and to illustrate that Australia adds value to the US in this area.

8. China is the country central to Australia's relationships in the region

9. Australia is trying to create a better relationship with China through dialogue and practical activities.

10. Yes I do think that this relation is important to Australia as that China is quickly becoming a strong nation and if Australia can build a good relationship with China that this will only benefit Australia in the future. 

Immigration

1. An asylum seeker is a person who has fled their own country and applies to the government of another country for protection as a refugee.

2. Asylum seekers leave their county to come to Australia too seek a  better life, as in their country there is most likely a war, famine, disease, or lack of food.

3. Asylum seekers are given asylum if they can prove or have been proven 'safe' citizens not having any criminal records in their previous country and if they are going to be sent home to face death, then they are more likely to be given asylum. 

4. Most asylum seekers come from countries that are in a war or unstable country, mainly from middle east, and Indonesia. 

VIDEO QUESTIONS 

1. Australia have agree to send 800 asylum seekers to Indonesia in exchange for 4000 genuine refugees from Malaysia. 

2. They are given a UN card which allows them to work and not be detained from the Malaysia  government and put into a detention centre. 

3. Malaysia normally detain and cane illegal refugees. 

4. Yes, children are being sent as part of the 400 asylum seekers from Australia. 

5. the 500+ asylum seekers that have arrived in Australia since the 7th of may will have to be processed through the Australia government as this wasn't part of the deal with the Malaysia. 

6. Refugee advocates are worried that their safe cards will not hold through in Malaysia and that they don't believe that they will be safe there. 

7. The goal of this swap program is to slow down asylum seekers coming to Australia. 

8. No I don't believe that this will work as Malaysian's are unlikely to follow through with this deal and the asylum seekers will end up being treated like other illegal immigrants in Malaysia.    

Australia may be nuclear target: Kevin Rudd

1. Kevin Rudd is currently the Foreign Minister in the Australian government. Also known as Minister of Foreign Affairs. A foreign affairs minister is a minister in the cabinet of the government. He helps the government make the foreign policies of a country. It is often a senior position reporting directly to the prime minister or president. 

2. Kevin Rudd's is that he thinks that North Korea's nuclear weapons and programs are a direct threat to Australia.

3. Mr Rudd was at the ASEAN Regional Forum. 


4. North Korea fired a missile at a South Korean naval frigate, shelled civilians’ homes across the border  and defied two UN Security Council resolutions by pursuing an enriched uranium weapons program. Kevin Rudd believes that this means that they are lacking stability. 


5. Kevin Rudd said that 'North Korea’s uranium weaponisation program had the objective of putting nuclear warheads on long-range missiles was a direct threat to Australia.'  


6. By calling out North Korean counterpart publicly Mr Rudd is trying to make aware that North Korea is an unstable country at the moment and Australia needs to be aware of them more because they are in the same rejoin as them and something needs to be done. It also makes known to the public that North Korea is a Nuclear threat.


7. Australia's major allies such as the American's are not very friendly with North Korean's as America is a Nuclear power in the world, and because North Korea have hold of Nuclear weapons it makes North Korea a threat to the American's. 

Australia Aid

1. Done 

2.

• Economic growth, not foreign aid, is overcoming long-term poverty in the world.
  

• The amount in which Australia spends on overseas has doubled over the last two years and it predicted to double again. By 2015 Australia will be spending over $8billion a year helping people overseas.

• So it seemed like a good idea when Kevin Rudd announced a review of Australia's overseas aid program the report is about how to allocate and administer all the extra money. But neither the panel or the government could answer the main question asked about our aid program and the reason it's growing so fast.
  
• Spending money in ways that make difference doesn't help anyone. 

• Of course some aid really does help. Most obviously, emergency relief after disasters such as Indonesia's tsunami can save thousands. But this accounts for only 7 per cent of today's program.

•  The majority of our aid is supposed to help overcome long-term poverty.

• A billion people still live on less than $1.25 a day. 

• Poverty is being overcome. In 1981, 54 per cent of the world's people lived in extreme poverty. 2005 this had fallen to 25 per cent. In 2015 it will be less than 15 per cent.

• Any act of charity is, among other things, an assertion of power. Perhaps as power slips away, we feel more need to assert it.
  

The Author of this article has put forward some interesting points and statistics, and the overall feeling of this article is that Australia's aid program is kinda pointless as the countries that Australia are helping do not  necessarily need it, and can look after ourselves.   

3.

I think that Australia is giving more aid each year as the government believes they are in a better economic state than other countries, or to prove the Australia is becoming a powerful country. This allows Australia to build good relations with other countries. But with the good there is the bad as this now means that there is money not going into the Australian society, that they could spend on other things in Australia to make it a better place.