It is a great pleasure to introduce the return of Quarterly ACCESS. This stellar issue will take the reader on an incredible journey from the Maldives to the Great Southern Ocean to East Timor, and to Melbourne, where Malcolm Fraser shares his view on the world with us.

This issue will provide glimpses into complex institutional arrangements, from the International Whaling Commission to the International Criminal Court. And this issue will provide opportunity for quiet contemplation, be it in response to rising sea levels or the conduct and rules of War.

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The Rt. Hon. Malcolm Fraser AC CH, Prime Minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983, was interviewed by Alexandra Horwood.

The contentious issue of asylum seekers and official policy towards them has been dominating Australian political discourse for the past decade. This is not an unfamiliar national debate. Thirty years ago, another Coalition government made headlines with an immigration controversy that resonates with contemporary events. Malcolm Fraser’s government accepted around 100,000 Indochinese refugees into Australia after the Vietnam War, many coming by boat – a similar trip to that made by those featured in the headlines today. As a new Labor government attempts to roll back some of the controversial policies instituted by the Howard Government, Malcolm Fraser has publicly broken with his Liberal successors and criticised the treatment of asylum seekers by recent governments as a violation of human rights. He spoke privately on the issue for ACCESS in his Melbourne office in September this year.

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The startling blue face of an angelfish, punctuated with pale spots and bright yellow eye patches, emerges from its coral hideaway, weaving between the fluorescent orange tentacles of algae and green sea grasses. A dark shadow creeps close, floating above the giant cauliflower corals, huge bubbles billowing upward. The fish scatter. In a flash of blue and yellow our angelfish disappears to lie in wait for the danger to pass.

The floating shadow passes above and continues to a small enclave of sandy sea floor surrounded by reef. Here, it descends to perch atop one of 12 swivel chairs set neatly behind wooden desks arranged in a broad circle. The owner of the shadow is Mohamed Nasheed, the Maldivian president; the occupiers of the other chairs, the small island state’s Cabinet.

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“Welcome to independent East Timor” Mr. da Carmo tells all of his new customers. “We have nothing, but soon we can have everything.”[1]

This September marked the ten year anniversary of the events that resulted in East Timor’s independence. On the 4th of September 1999 the results of a United Nations sanctioned referendum were announced, in which 78% of East Timorese who voted expressed their desire for independence from Indonesia. The Indonesian military and its militias responded violently. Over 1000 people were killed, hundreds of thousands were driven from their homes and most of the country’s infrastructure was destroyed. However, after two weeks of international pressure, Indonesia allowed the entry of an Australian-led peacemaking force, securing East Timor’s path to independence.

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The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) has become an effective tool in protecting the world’s population of whales from extinction. However, it could go further to ensure that all whales are protected from exploitation altogether. The Convention’s primary mechanism, The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has altered international norms regarding commercial whaling and manages to foster the participation of states that remain hostile to its resolutions.[1] Anti-whaling nations, most notably Australia and the U.S.A. have used membership of the IWC to almost completely halt commercial whaling operations around the globe.[2] This moratorium imposed by the IWC has so far protected certain whale species from extinction.[3] However, what remains unclear is whether the original mandate of the IWC – the regulation of commercial whaling – will be enough to sustain global whale populations into the future.[4]

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Shortly after interviewing Obama for a biographical story on his upbringing and issues with identity, Newsweek journalist Richard Wolffe was told by the presidential candidate that he should write a book detailing the Obama electoral campaign. Obama saw synergies between the two’s cultural experiences – a British reporter with a Moroccan and Jewish background and Obama’s own American and Kenyan heritage – and believed they shared an ability to ‘cross lines’. Wolffe initially rejected the suggestion, citing the large amount of material already in circulation about the election. However, two months later and on closer reflection, Wolffe felt that Obama may be right. Despite Obama having a bestselling memoir, Wolffe believed his story was still vital and largely unknown. Wolffe relayed his change in heart to Obama, telling him that he thought the idea of writing a book was a good one. Obama responded with, “That’s why I’m running for President, because I have good ideas”.[1]

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C.A.J. Coady is a Professorial Fellow in Applied Philosophy at the University of Melbourne with an international reputation for his research in both epistemology, as well as political and applied philosophy.

With his latest book Morality and Political Violence, Coady builds on the Just War Theory (JWT) tradition, of which Michael Walzer’s Just and Unjust Wars[1], first published in the 1970s, is probably still the most prescribed reading. Coady builds on Walzer’s work addressing issues within the traditional paradigm of distinguishing between justifications for war - jus ad bellum, and the conduct in war - jus in bello. Coady however moves beyond well worn issues, such as the status of noncombatants and requirements of proportionality, to address warfare concerns that are very much of the moment, including terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, mass bombardment, or the use of mercenaries.

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