The Australian government announced yesterday that it will not proceed with the construction of a 2,700-metre-long paved runway in Antarctica. The announcement by the environment minister, Sussan Ley, was framed as a significant decision to …
Articles by: "Tony Press"
Monday 4 October marks the 30th anniversary of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. The signing of the protocol by 26 countries marked the end of a tumultuous few years of diplomatic …
Sixty years ago this month, the first Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting was held in Canberra. It ran from 10 to 24 July 1961 and was attended by representatives from the 12 Antarctic claimant states: Argentina, …
In 2013, the Tasmanian government signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s State Oceanic Administration to provide support services for Chinese Antarctic expeditions. Under the agreement, Chinese vessels were given access to Hobart’s port and …
Australia may be a sunburnt country, with droughts and flooding rains, but climate change is relentlessly ramping up our nation’s inherent vulnerabilities: January 2019 was Australia’s hottest month on record, and nine of the 10 …
China is a relative new player down south. It joined the Antarctic Treaty in 1983 and the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources in 2007. A recent ASPI Special Report, China’s expanding …
On 4 October 1991, the Parties to the Antarctic Treaty met in Madrid, Spain to sign the ‘Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty’. The Madrid Protocol, as it’s commonly known, put in place …
The recent unexpected announcement of significant cuts to fundamental climate science research in Australia has provoked responses both nationally and internationally. Although the announcement was made a fortnight ago in an email from the CEO …
The Antarctic region is of immense strategic importance to Australia, not only because Australia claims 42% of Antarctica, but also because the Antarctic Treaty provides that all of the planet below 60 degrees South is …
Australia should re-focus its Antarctic efforts, clearly state its Antarctic strategic interests and match its Antarctic aspirations with action and carefully directed investment. These are the essential elements of a report released today by the …
The headline message from the recently released IPCC 5th Assessment Report (Climate change 2013: The Physical Science Basis) is pretty straightforward: Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the …
Guest editor Anthony BerginAustralia made its last significant new investment in Antarctic logistic capability during the Howard government years, when we funded an intercontinental air capability in the form of a commercial Airbus A319 flying …