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Terrorism, Middle East and China top Howard concerns

The Howard government was warned about catastrophic climate impacts, including bushfires, before it refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, according to former Minister Philip Ruddock and cabinet documents.
A submission to cabinet from August 8, 2005, outlined significant pressure on water resources due to climate change, foreseeing reduced rainfall and more severe droughts in Australia.
Cabinet documents emphasized the rapid changes in climate observed and urged action, as stated by the then-foreign minister Alexander Downer and environment minister Ian Campbell.

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Terrorism, Middle East, and China Were Top Howard Government Concerns: Cabinet Documents

Counter-terrorism was one of the Howard government’s top defence priorities in 2005, cabinet documents reveal, but ministers were also conscious of an increasingly assertive Chinese Communist Party. Records from 20 years ago, released by the National Archives, give new insights into how the government made decisions about deploying troops overseas and protecting Australians at home. There was significant discussion in cabinet and the high-powere…

10 hours ago·New York, United States

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SBS News

Lean Left

Disasters, defence and pandemics: what the cabinet papers reveal about 2005

Hundreds of newly released cabinet papers reveal the inner workings of the Howard government in the mid-noughties with warnings about the role that defence personnel should play in Afghanistan and Australia's preparedness for a pandemic.

20 hours ago·Sydney, Australia

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