2) Measles, Malnutrition Kill 71 in Papua
3) Realizing Australia’s Defense Export Dreams
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1) Child Protection Minister Claims Papua Unfit for Children
Children swim in the sea in Raja Ampat, West Papua. TEMPO/Hariandi Hafid
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Women Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Yohana Yembise considers Papua as a region that is unfit for children’s development. Her consideration is influenced by the geographical condition of the region.
“I have expressed it to the [Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Puan Maharani] that the geographical condition hampers us in reaching those regions,” said Yohana following a meeting on Wednesday, January 31.
Yohana said that central government must synergize with the Papuan regional administration to Papua more hospitable for children. She said that based on Government Regulation No 23/2016, problems related to the development of children should be handled by each regional administration.
Furthermore, Yohana explained that the budget for women empowerment in Papua is still too limited. She has urged the Papuan government to increase the budget in that sector.
A number of state Ministers held a meeting at the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture office to discuss the follow-up of the extraordinary event took place in Papua. Coordinating Minister Puan Maharani said that she will utilize the budget from each ministry and Papuan special autonomy.
Chitra Paramaesti
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2) Measles, Malnutrition Kill 71 in Papua
Wednesday, 31 January 2018 | 22:29 WIB
JAKARTA, NNC - Health Minister Nila Moeloek said as many as 13,300 children in Asmat Regency, Papua, have been vaccinated as efforts to control the epidemic of measles. Until now there are 71 people died from measles and malnutrition.
According to Minister Nila, not all districts in Asmat Regency get the service because it is constrained by difficult terrains. "There are still some unreached districts because to get to those places is difficult," said Nila, Wednesday (1/31/2018).
Based on data received by the Asmat Humanitarian Task Force as of Tuesday (1/30), the number of inpatients in Asmat remains 26 people, 19 of whom were treated in Asmat Regional Public Hospital and seven patients are treated in the Hall of Protestant Church of Indonesia Asmat.
Five patients who are still inpatient at Asmat Regional Hospital are diagnosed with measles, 10 people suffering from malnutrition and diarrhea, and four people suffering from fever.
The condition of patients treated at the Hall of Protestant Church of Indonesia is all malnourished. Previously, the number of patients treated in the Hall of Protestant Church of Indonesia was 47 people, of whom 40 patients had been discharged.
Meanwhile, Social Affairs Minister Idrus Marham on a separate occasion said the problem solving in Asmat Regency must be integrated and cross-sectoral. A number of ministries solve problems of infrastructure, environment, education, health and others.
According to him, what is done in Papua should be based on culture, regional character, cannot be equated to others. Idrus also mentioned that the handling of the problem in Asmat is a humanitarian operation.
"The involvement of the TNI [Indonesian Armed Forces]-Polri [National Police] is in the context of humanitarian operations, not military operations," said Idrus
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3) Realizing Australia’s Defense Export Dreams
By Grant Wyeth January 31, 2018
Canberra wants to spark growth in its defense industry, but the market is a crowded one.
Australia is continuing its recent trajectory towards developing a more robust defense architecture. Not only has the country significantly increased its defense expenditure, and has begun acquiring major new hardware, this week saw the government release an aspirational new Defense Export Strategy that hopes to move Australia in to the top 10 defense product exporting countries by 2028.
Currently, the country’s defense exports amount to 0.3 percent share of the global market — $1.6 billion per annum — making it the 20th largest arms exporter. The government is hoping that by establishing a $3.1 billion fund that will provide loans to local defense industry manufacturers to expand their businesses, they will be able to find new export markets, and rapidly increase Australia’s share of the market.
The plan seems wildly ambitious as countries in the lower half of the top 10 exporters (Spain, Italy, Ukraine and Israel) each have over eight times the worth of exports. However, Australia seems to have identified an area of manufacturing that should continue to grow as other manufacturing industries decline or become locally unviable, and it hopes that the country can develop the necessary skills to take advantage of the demand. Australia itself doesn’t have the military capacity to sustain a domestic industry with its own needs. But the government has indicated it would focus on complimentary hardware for its Five Eyes allies in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand, as well as targeting markets in Asia and the Middle East.
The government has stated that as Australia’s export capabilities increase it will have measures in place to prevent the sale of hardware into conflict zones or to countries with poor human rights records. Yet according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Indonesia is currently Australia’s second largest importer of defense equipment (after the United States) at around 21 percent of Australian exports, and concerns remain about the behavior of the Indonesian military (TNI) in West Papua. While ever-closer ties with Indonesia are vital to Australian security, and greater arms sales may assist with this process, a greater consolidation of defense sales to Indonesia would be of particular concern to Australia’s Melanesian neighbors, who remain strong advocates for West Papuan rights.
While the uncertainty brought by shifting regional power structures in the Indo-Pacific may be a major driver of Australia’s desire to enhance its defence capabilities, domestic regional economic shifts are also a significant factor. With the state of South Australia (SA) struggling with the viability of a number of manufacturing industries, it is seeking to become the hub of Australia’s defence aspirations in an attempt to revitalize the state’s fortunes.
With the last car manufacturing plant in Australia closing in the state capital of Adelaide in October last year, the country has also lost a strategic heavy manufacturing capability should it find itself in need to convertcivilian operations into large-scale military production. The government seems to be attempting to pivot this civilian loss directly into a greater defense capability. Hoping that the “high end” value of this industry will be of greater and more stable financial benefit to the region, as well as a national strategic gain.
However, the new scheme has posed the question of whether Australian defense manufacturers actually requirepublic funding to boost their operations, when opportunities for finance would exist in the private sector. Although the government may be using the high profile announcement to encourage defense manufacturers to heighten their ambitions. And the potential for civil society groups opposed to financial institutions lending to defense manufacturers gaining public traction could also have been a factor.
Despite this, because the market for large scale defense hardware — warships, planes, submarines — is already dominated by the United States, Russia and European Union countries, it is unlikely Australia will develop the capacity and expertise to shift the market in any significant way within a decade. It is also unlikely that Australia could be competitive on cost either. The development of niche innovations that can be complementary to the hardware of major global defense manufacturers is most likely what the government envisages.
The implications of the government’s proposal is that it sees some potential growth and profitability in the future of Australia’s defense industry. At the very least, the desire to develop a viable high-end defense manufacturing capability is an indication that Australia is seeking to create a more self-sufficient and muscular defense infrastructure. One that is less reliant on other powers and a little more strategic flexibility.
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