News and Media

In an article in The Sydney Morning Herald, John Garnaut reports on a new Lowy Institute Policy Brief by Linda Jakobson, Program Director East Asia, entitled Australia-China ties: in search of political trust.

Jane Fynes-Clinton, writing in The Courier-Mail on figures trickling in from the Census, which show the increasing number of Asians making up the Australian population, quotes the 2012 Lowy Institute Poll on public opinion and foreign policy.

In an article in The Sydney Morning Herald on the impact of mobile telephony on the elections in Papua New Guinea, Hamish McDonald quotes Lowy Institute Research Associate Danielle Cave's post on The Interpreter.

Writing in The Australian on the pivotal political issue of a carbon tax, Paul Kelly quotes the 2012 Lowy Institute Poll on public opinion and foreign policy.

Annmaree O'Keeffe, acting Director of The Myer Foundation Melanesia Program, was interviewed by Jemima Garrett on ABC Radio Australia on how it is time that both Papua New Guinea and Australia took stock of their bilateral relationship.

In an article in The Australian, Bernard Lane, writing on the enduring popularity of French among would-be diplomats in the Asian Century, quotes Lowy Institute Research Fellow Alex Oliver.

Research Fellow Alex Oliver was interviewed on ABC 702's Drive program on Foreign Minister Bob Carr's efforts in the case of Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor, who is being detained in Libya.

Writing in The Australian Financial Review on the possibility of the Labor government implementing a new register of foreign ownership of farmland, Louise Dodson and James Massola quote the 2012 Lowy Institute Poll on public opinion and foreign policy.

Writing in Scientific American that Australia will levy a carbon tax on about half the number of companies originally expected, James Grubel quotes the Lowy Institute Poll on public opinion and foreign policy

Writing in The Age on the Austrian thinker Joseph Schumpeter's view of capitalism as the end of a classical concept of democracy, Tim Soutphommasane quotes the 2012 Lowy Institute Poll on public opinion and foreign policy.

Visiting Fellow John CARLSON received an award in the 2012 Queen’s birthday honours list as a member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia for service to public administration, particularly in the areas of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, and to the development of international safeguards policy.Behind those brief words lies a professional lifetime of dedication and innovative contributions to the prevention of the spread of nuclear weapons, and to nuclear security and safety.John is Australia’s foremost, and perhaps only combined policy and technical expert on nuclear non-proliferation.  He is also one of our leading arms control and disarmament experts.  In Australia, he is unique. Nobody in Australia today has made such a major, sustained, diverse, practical as well as strategic contribution to Australian and international non-proliferation efforts.  It is probably no exaggeration to say that John’s work is better recognised outside Australia than within it.John has been the respected source of apolitical, evidence based advice on these matters to all sides of politics in Australia and political systems around the globe.   He has personally contributed to a better, more effective global non-proliferation network and in the Asia-Pacific region and thus to a more secure world.John was a central figure in the international negotiations for the strengthening of the global safeguards system through the Additional Protocol to the IAEA’s safeguards system.  Australia was the first country to adopt the Additional Protocol when it was opened for signature in 1997.  It is thanks to this enhanced safeguards system that the world was able to detect the illicit Iranian nuclear activities in recent years.  John is regularly consulted by leading experts and policy makers in the United States, Russia, Republic of Korea, China, SE Asia and the world’s nuclear governing body, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). His recent retirement from the position of Director-General of the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office (ASNO) has not slowed him down; if anything he is more active than ever, pursuing his non-proliferation work and policy innovation in the Asia-Pacific region.   John is constantly looking for ways in which the system can be practically improved, not only for safeguards but also in nuclear safety and security.  John has been generous in sharing his knowledge and insights, often for no remuneration, in working to keep the world safe from nuclear proliferation while maximising the opportunities that peaceful uses of nuclear energy can offer.John is now Counselor with the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative, working on the Nuclear Security Project involving George Shultz, Henry Kissinger, William Perry and Sam Nunn and other projects.  The Lowy Institute is proud to have him working with us here as a Visiting Fellow and through our own work sponsored by the Nuclear Security Project.  This is also an opportunity to congratulate Professor the Honourable Gareth John EVANS AO QC for his award of Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia in the 2012 Queen’s birthday awards in recognition of his contribution, among other things, to arms control and disarmament.Gareth and John have worked closely together over the years, and continue to pursue their collaboration through promoting the recommendations http://icnnd.org/Reference/reports/ent/default.htmof the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (co-chaired by Gareth Evans and for which the Lowy Institute provided research support and expertise.) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The Lowy Institute has a strong track record of producing original research and fostering debate on the full spectrum of nuclear issues, from arms control and security through to the future of nuclear energy. Priority topics include the future of non-proliferation and disarmament, nuclear strategic challenges in Asia, extended deterrence, the role of the civil nuclear industry in non-proliferation, and Australia’s nuclear policy dilemmas. For more information please visitour Nuclear Policy Centre.

This week, RN Drive’s Close-up dives into the world of rally car racing and motor sports in Palestine.Waleed Aly and Anthony Bubalo strap in to feel the drift with Wassim Razzouk, Palestine’s 2007 rally car champion.A podcast is available:

John Roskam, writing in The Australian Financial Review, reports on the findings from the 2012 Lowy Institute Poll on attitudes to democracy as a form of government.

Rory Medcalf, Program Director International Security, was interviewed on Channel 10's The Project program on the topic 'Going global, trusting China'. The program also showed a clip of Executive Director Michael Wesley speaking about China.

In an article in the Straits Times on political sentiment about China's rise, William Choong quotes results of the 2012 Lowy Institute Poll on public opinion and foreign policy.

An article in The New Zealand Herald reports on the findings of the 2012 Lowy Institute Poll on attitudes to the Australia-United States alliance and the rise in Chinese power in the region.

An article in The Times of India reports that more than 60 per cent of Australians say they are against 'Australia selling uranium to India', with 39 per cent saying they are 'strongly against'," according to the eight annual Lowy Institute Poll 2012. 

In an article in The Australian Financial Review, Fleur Anderson, Angela Macdonald-Smith and Louise Dodson quote findings from the 2012 Lowy Institute Poll on public opinion and foreign policy that reveal 81 per cent of Australians were against foreign businesses buying farm land.

Defence Reporter David Ellery writes in The Canberra Times on an address to a Lowy Institute breakfast in Canberra by US Center for Strategic and International Studies analyst Jim Lewis on strategic cyber competition in Asia.

An interview with Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Wesley on the results of the 2012 Lowy Institute Poll on public opinion and foreign policy was aired on several city and regional ABC Radio News programs.

Peter Hartcher, writing in The Sydney Morning Herald on attitudes towards foreign investment in Australia, quotes the finding of the 2012 Lowy Institute Poll that 46 per cent of Australians polled think the federal government is allowing too much foreign investment, but that jumps to 56 per cent when asked specifically about investment from China.

Geoff Kitney comments in The Australian Financial Review on findings of the 2012 Lowy Inistitute Poll on attitudes to carbon tax and climate change.

Rowan Callick writes in The Australian on the surprising finding of the 2012 Lowy Institute Poll on public opinion and foreign policy that only 39 per cent of young Australians are prepared to unequivocally back democracy.