Output 3.1 – International Policy
| Output 3.1 International Policy | Performance indicators |
|---|---|
| Advice, briefing and support to the Prime Minister on international issues, including trade, defence, aid policy, security and intelligence issues, including for presentation of the Government’s decisions in these areas. | Quality: The degree of satisfaction of the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Secretary with the timeliness and quality of material for the Prime Minister’s and other Ministers’ consideration, including in developing and pursuing Australia’s key foreign and trade policy interests. |
| Advice, briefing and support to the Prime Minister on domestic security issues, including security intelligence, law enforcement, counter-terrorism and natural disaster relief. | The degree of satisfaction of the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister’s Office, and the Secretary with the timeliness and quality of material for the Prime Minister’s and other Ministers’ consideration, including in relation to development and pursuit of key domestic security and natural disaster relief goals and improvement of domestic security arrangements. |
| Provision of secretariat services to the National Security Committee of Cabinet (NSC) and the Secretaries’ Committee on National Security (SCNS). | The degree of satisfaction of the Prime
Minister, other NSC Ministers, the Secretary to Cabinet and the
departmental Secretaries associated with SCNS with the support required
for the smooth operation of the NSC and SCNS. Cost of Outputs – $3.9m |
Qualitative assessment
Methodology
Formal and informal feedback from the Secretary of the department and relevant senior advisers provides for the qualitative assessment of International Division’s work. The Secretary judges the division’s performances and outcomes against its work plan in formal feedback sessions. We use this feedback as the basis for continuous improvement.
Feedback
The Prime Minister, Prime Minister’s Office, the Secretary and the departmental Executive provided positive feedback on the division’s work across the range of key international, defence, intelligence and security issues. This feedback covered our secretariat services work, including for the National Security Committee (NSC) of Cabinet, and our support of the Prime Minister’s overseas visits.
Key results
Through advice provided to the Prime Minister, and support for whole-of-government and cross-portfolio endeavours, the International Division contributed to key government initiatives and achievements, as listed below.
International issues
International Division played the lead in policy preparations for the Coolum Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in March 2002, liaising closely with the CHOGM Task Force; the Commonwealth Secretariat (the headquarters of the Commonwealth); and other agencies and governments. Despite CHOGM’s postponement in the wake of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, the division worked successfully to ensure an effective policy environment and strong attendance by leaders (with 35 attending, the 2002 CHOGM was the largest such gathering ever held in Australia).
The division actively helped shape the CHOGM agenda, supporting the Prime Minister and Secretary in achieving significant outcomes for Australia through:
- a clear statement on Zimbabwe, authorising action by a Commonwealth leaders’ committee (comprising the leaders of Australia, South Africa and Nigeria)
- the Coolum Declaration, reaffirming fundamental Commonwealth political values and taking a firm stand on key issues (such as terrorism, HIV/AIDS, economic development and small states) as pressed by Australia
- a shaping Australian influence on the High Level Review Group recommendations for the future course, structure and policy of the Commonwealth, as endorsed in the Coolum Declaration.
The division provided briefing support for the Prime Minister’s chairmanship of the 19 March leaders’ committee meeting and its successful suspension of Zimbabwe from the councils of the Commonwealth. We also provided ongoing support to the Prime Minister in his role as Commonwealth Chairman in Office, including during further consultations on Zimbabwe held in London on 9 April 2002.
With the Pacific remaining an important foreign policy priority, the division engaged successfully in promoting a focused, whole-of-government approach to building democracy, economic development and stability in the region (elections were held in both Fiji and the Solomon Islands, restoring constitutional government and the rule of law, and significant progress was made in Papua New Guinea concerning the Bougainville peace process). We were also heavily engaged in supporting economic and governmental reform in Papua New Guinea, including reform of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force.
International Division coordinated Australian efforts to ensure a smooth transition to independence for East Timor, with the Prime Minister attending independence celebrations on 20 May 2002 and signing the Timor Sea Treaty on offshore petroleum exploration and exploitation.
The pursuit of a mature, balanced and sustainable relationship with Indonesia was underlined by the positive outcomes of the Prime Minister’s visits to Indonesia in August 2001 and February 2002. The February visit included the adoption of a memorandum of understanding in relation to combating terrorism, cooperating to deter people smuggling and jointly sponsoring the Bali Conference, which was held on 27 and 28 February 2002, to address people smuggling issues. The division supported the Prime Minister’s leading role in securing trade outcomes. They included:
- the pursuit of a free trade agreement with the United States
- strengthened economic links with Japan and China
- a closer economic relations agreement with Thailand
- specific results for business, including improved access for Australian steel to the United States markets.
We provided policy input into the successful visits to Australia of President Wahid of Indonesia, President Obasanjo of Nigeria, Prime Minister Koizumi of Japan, President Sampaio of Portugal, Prime Minister Thaksin of Thailand and President Stephanopoulos of Greece.
We also supported the Prime Minister’s important programme of international visits to advance Australia’s foreign, trade and economic interests. As well as Indonesia, the countries visited included the United States, the United Kingdom, East Timor, Singapore, and China (including for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meeting). The division also provided support to the Minister for Defence in representing the Prime Minister at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting.
Defence and security issues
The division made a major contribution to the coordination of Australia’s response to the terrorist attacks on the United States which occurred on 11 September 2001. Specific contributions made by the division included:
- coordination of the Australian Government’s initial response to the attacks, including immediate steps to heighten Australia’s counter-terrorism preparedness
- participation in a major review of Australia’s counter-terrorism arrangements, and subsequent contributions to the further development of a range of legislative and other security measures to protect against terrorism
- coordination of preparations for the Commonwealth Government–State Summit on Transnational Crime and Terrorism held in April 2002, which resulted in agreement on a series of federal arrangements to support a new national framework for dealing with terrorism and transnational crime.
We also contributed to government considerations regarding forces deployed to the war against terrorism in Afghanistan.
The division worked closely with Defence on the implementation of the Government’s capability commitments as stated in the Defence 2000 White Paper. We also supported Cabinet’s consideration of the first review of the Defence Capability Plan.
International Division coordinated the Government’s response to several commemorative events, particularly those relating to the sixtieth anniversaries of World War II battles in the Pacific and the Kokoda campaign.
The division also provided assistance with the establishment of effective arrangements for security and other support for dignitaries attending the Coolum CHOGM in March 2002.
Secretariat services
The International Division provided policy advice to the Prime Minister and the Secretary on the management of defence, intelligence and security issues, including:
- the deployment of the Australian Defence Force to Afghanistan in support of the war against terrorism
- Defence industry policy and major capital acquisitions, such as improvements to Collins class submarines and the acquisition of armed reconnaissance helicopters
- the review of Australian Defence Force personnel remuneration
- the implementation of enhanced security measures in the intelligence community and in government more widely, based on recommendations made in 2000 by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security.
Meetings focusing on those areas, for which the division provided input and support, consisted of 16 meetings of the NSC, 16 meetings of the Secretaries’ Committee on National Security and 10 meetings of the Strategic Policy Coordination Group.
We continued to chair annual and ad hoc meetings of the Commonwealth Government Counter-disaster Task Force, which coordinated the Australian Government response to the bushfires which occurred in New South Wales in December 2001.
The division also contributed to effective Commonwealth Government–State consultation and coordination through the Standing Committee on Treaties, for which the division, as secretariat, supported and chaired officials’ meetings in November 2001 and May 2002. In addition, we provided input to and support for six meetings of the International Economic Policy Group of senior officials, which addresses international economic policy issues faced by Australia.
| Contents | Secretary's Review | Portfolio and Departmental Overview
|
| Report on Performance
| Corporate Governance |
| Coolum
CHOGM | Appendixes | Financial Statements |
| Glossary | Subject Index
|
(c) Commonwealth of Australia 2002
