- Home
- About us
- Visas and migration
- Travelling to Australia
- Services for Australians
- Doing business with Australia
- Education
- Media
- About Australia
- Relations with the EU
- Relations with Belgium and Luxembourg
- Relations with NATO
- Events
- Culture
- Customs and quarantine
- Science, research, innovation
- Nederlands
- Français
News - May 2009
► New N Series Australian Passport - 28 May 2009
Australian Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, launched on 28 May 2009 Australia’s new N Series passport.
The passport continues Australia’s reputation as a world leader in the development and production of secure travel documentation.
The N Series passport is the culmination of a highly successful partnership between Government and business to continually improve Australia’s passport.
Each passport incorporates state-of-the-art technology to help curb identity fraud and possible misuse.
It was designed and manufactured by Note Printing Australia, applying the same expertise and technologies developed in printing Australia’s bank notes.
The N Series features images of Australia printed throughout the document making every visa page unique. This has resulted in a passport which is very difficult to falsify through page substitution or tampering.
The passport continues to use a laminate developed exclusively for Australian travel documents by the 3M Company.
This laminate incorporates several new tamper-resistant technologies to assist international border control authorities to distinguish the document as a genuine Australian passport.
The N Series incorporates Active Authentication technology on the Radio Frequency Identification chip, developed in cooperation with Sharp Corporation.
This technology enables border inspection authorities to determine that the data is being read from the genuine original chip and not a copy or clone.
It also provides an additional level of confidence to passport holders that their personal details contained on the chip are secure.
The N Series passport will also use carbon neutral environmentally friendly paper.
► Australia's International Development Assistance Program 2009-10
The Australian Government has announced on 12 May 2009 its new budget measures for its international Development assistance program for 2009-10.
The 2009-10 Australian aid budget emphasises addressing the impacts of the global recession, through efforts to boast employment and growth, maintain basic services and help the vulnerable. The budget includes AUD 1.5 billion over four years in new budget measures.
Funding for Global Programs in the 2009-10 aid budget of AUD 614.4 million (an increase of AUD 25 million on the 2008-09 budget) continues Australia’s commitment to international aid agencies and provides for enhanced engagement with key humanitarian agencies and organisations and for key Australian NGOs. Global Programs include Humanitarian, Emergency and Refugee Programs (AUD 299.8m); UN, Commonwealth and Other International Organisations (AUD 205.9m) and NGO, Volunteer and Community Programs (AUD 108.6m).
The 2009-10 aid budget includes funding of AUD 57.5m for Global Health Programs, including AUD46.5m support to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; AUD 39.3m for Global Environment Programs, including support to the Global Crop Diversity Trust, the International Tropical Timber Organisation and other programs; and AUD 22.5m for Global Education Programs, which provides support to programs including the Education for All Fast Track Initiative.
This 2009-10 aid budget includes significantly increased funding for education (up by 28 per cent in 2009-10 to reach AUD690 million, representing approximately 18 per cent of total ODA) and health (up by 40 per cent in 2009-10 to over AUD590 million, representing approximately 16 per cent of total ODA).
Australia will work closely with other donors, in particular the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to support global response efforts, to analyse regional and country specific needs and design appropriate responses. By doing so, Australia is laying the foundations for recovery and future prosperity, including in our own region. (more)
► Australia submits revised carbon pollution reduction target to the United Nations - 6 May 2009
Australia has formally submitted its revised 2020 carbon pollution reduction target to the United Nations.
Following the most recent UN climate change negotiations, Australia agreed to coordinate a joint submission on behalf of a range of advanced economies pledging carbon pollution reduction targets.
Australia has consistently encouraged other advanced economies to announce their targets to reduce carbon pollution, to help build momentum towards the ambitious global agreement we all need.
Australia has submitted an updated version of this joint submission incorporating Australia’s 25 per cent target if the world agrees to an ambitious global deal capable of stabilising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at 450ppm CO2-eq or lower.
“We are putting our 25 per cent target on the table to try and drive progress in global negotiations,” Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, said.
“This demonstrates that we are serious about playing an active role in building an ambitious global outcome.”
This new target reinforces the need to secure passage of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme this year, because Australia cannot responsibly sign up to targets without a means to deliver them.
“Australia needs to go to Copenhagen to try and secure a deal in the national interest with a plan to back our targets,” Senator Wong said.
“What matters most as we try to secure a global deal is what we do at home. The basis for any global deal will be the domestic actions taken by individual nations. “Failure to pass the CPRS legislation will send exactly the wrong signal to the negotiations. It will damage momentum, confidence and trust at the moment when it is needed most.”
The submission will be available at www.climatechange.gov.au.
► Australian face for military support to Afghan elections - 5 May 2009
The Minister for Defence, the Hon. Joel Fitzgibbon MP, announced today that a senior Australian Army officer has been appointed to assume the role of Commander International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Election Task Force.
Brigadier Damian Cantwell has deployed to Afghanistan to take on the key role as the coordinator of ISAF security support to the Afghan Presidential and Provincial Council elections that are set for 20 August 2009.
“Brigadier Cantwell has deployed into a high profile position in ISAF to coordinate military support to a milestone event for the Afghan Government and its people,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.
“Brigadier Cantwell will also play an important role liaising with the International Electoral Commission, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, the Afghan Government, and the non-government organisations that are contributing to the election.”
“The Commander of ISAF, General David McKiernan and I discussed this important appointment and I have agreed to a nominee who has the right skills and experience for this demanding position.”
“Australian Defence Force personnel have an exceptional reputation within ISAF and I have every confidence that Brigadier Cantwell will continue to enhance our standing in the international community during this important time,” the Minister said.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that an Election Support Force of approximately 120 personnel, to form a company-strength Combat Team will support election security in Oruzgan province.
Brigadier Cantwell was most recently posted to Fort Leavenworth at the United States Army School of Advanced Military Studies as an instructor.
He is a 25-year career officer and was previously deployed to the Middle East in 2002 as a Liaison Officer with the Australian National Command Element.