1. This week 10 years ago, Prime Minister, Julia Gillard signed an agreement with the President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai to support that country’s security, development and governance following the withdrawal of Australian troops in 2014.
The agreement included an Australian commitment to help build the capacity of the Afghan Government and its national institutions to promote and protect human rights and work to combat transnational threats such as terrorism, narcotics and people smuggling.
Ms Gillard said a joint Commission would be established to review the implementation of the partnership and to provide a forum for regular dialogue on issues of shared strategic interest.
2. New laws to clamp down on problem gambling were announced by the Minister for Families and Community Services, Jenny Macklin.
Ms Macklin said the new legislation would require all new poker machines manufactured from the end of 2013 to be capable of supporting a pre-commitment scheme in which players decided in advance how much they intended to invest.
“The Government is also sponsoring a large-scale trial of mandatory pre-commitment in the ACT,” Ms Macklin said.
“We have included new provisions in the legislation to ensure the trial is independently designed, managed and evaluated.”
3. One of the most advanced marine research institutes in the world opened at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS) in Mosman.
NSW Minister for Primary Industries, Katrina Hodgkinson said more than $20 million worth of major improvements had been made, including state-of-the-art aquarium facilities, new cell and molecular microbiological, field biology and geological laboratories, refurbished teaching laboratories, new lecture theatres and a conference centre.
“This world-class marine research facility will advance our knowledge and understanding of the Australian eastern seaboard and oceans in Antarctica and will also attract researchers and PhD students from across the State, the country and the world,” Ms Hodgkinson said.
4. The rollout of the troubled HealthSMART system in Victoria was abandoned, with the Minister for Health, David Davis saying the system had been scrapped in favour of individual systems for each hospital.
HealthSMART was launched in 2003 as an integrated ICT system for the health service but fell behind implementation deadlines and suffered cost blowouts.
Mr Davis said the State Government had decided not to “throw more good money after bad” and instead would look to the $100 million innovation fund announced in the recent State Budget for solutions to the health system’s ICT needs.
He said he would set up a panel of experts to advise him on the requirements of hospitals and the best ways of addressing them.
5. Both the West Australian and Tasmanian State Governments announced cutbacks to their Public Service staff and services in their 2012–13 Budgets.
WA Treasurer, Christian Porter handed down the WA Budget expecting a surplus of $196 million, with further surpluses forecast across the forward estimates to 2015–16.
Mr Porter said despite strong economic growth of 4.75 per cent for 2012–13, the State faced a challenging revenue and fiscal outlook.
Tasmania’s Premier and Treasurer, Lara Giddings said the magnitude of the 2012–13 State Budget challenge made it impossible to quarantine the delivery of frontline public services from proposed cutbacks.
6. And this week a decade ago, Mungkan Kandju National Park, in central Cape York Peninsula, was handed back to its Traditional Owners.
Queensland Premier, Campbell Newman said the handover of the 381,560-hectare national park to the Wik Mungkan, Southern Kaanju and Ayapathu People was a momentous event.
“With the return of this land, we are closing a chapter of history and building a joint approach to conservation, as well as forming a strong working relationship with Traditional Owners,” Mr Newman said.
