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ALP International Projects


ALP International Projects was created to manage Labor's relations with our region and the world.

Our mission is to build dialogue with our counterparts around the globe on central issues such as trade, encouraging economic growth in Australia and abroad, political and social rights, the environment, our conventional and human security needs, countering terrorism and democratic reforms.

Welcome to International Projects.

Dear Friends,

Welcome to Australian Labor’s International Projects website.

We have reached the end of another financial year and our programs continue to build momentum. The current economic climate requires us to build more efficiencies into our programs this year, but demand for our training and events has never been higher. Now, more than ever, we will be listening to our counterparts and developing our programs to pinpoint the future challenges of political party work in our region. More focused activities will strengthen our engagement with counterpart parties and international organisations and we will find new ways of building global dialogues.

Through targeted, locally relevant programs our practitioner approach is building demand for better governance. It has also provided us with a unique opportunity to reach out to our counterparts to develop collective responses to regional governance challenges.

In the last quarter, we have undertaken a raft of initiatives to further our international work and strengthen democracy in our region.

In May, we ran a program of training and consultations on Platforms, Polling, and Campaigns for Indonesia’s main political parties and pollsters in the lead-up to the 2009 elections. International Projects continues to receive requests for Australian visits by Indonesian political parties.

Also in May, we undertook training for 30 political party officials from Vanuatu as they gear up for the 2 September 2008 Elections. These training programs build on our ongoing awareness raising activities. Look out for the Political Parties and Groupings of Vanuatu, First Edition booklet to be launched in the coming weeks, in which Vanuatu’s parties frame the issues as they see them in the lead-up to the September polls.

In June, Lesley Clark ran training for women candidates in the Papua New Guinea Highlands as a follow-up to last year’s Campaign School for Women ( Asia and the Pacific). Twenty women from 5 Highlands provinces took part in the program. Read about our groundbreaking initiative here. Applications for the next Cairns Campaign School for Women ( Asia and the Pacific) to be held in Cairns 26 October – 1 November 2008 have now closed. Applicants will be notified via email or fax by the COB 19 September 2008.

We have launched a new initiative – a Public Lecture Series – to help frame debates about key issues in our international work. In June, Professor Keith Ewing from King’s College London, presented a public lecture and undertook a series of consultations with major stakeholders on political party funding regimes in global perspective.

We have continued our mission to raise awareness about our activities in Australia. IPDC Committee member Melissa Parke (MP, Fremantle), Lesley Clark and Joe Hay continued this program of public engagement at the State Conference of the WA Branch of Australian Labor, 28 June 2008.

Read the latest on Asia and the Pacific from our Foreign Affairs and Defence Teams.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith argues that India must be a major foreign policy priority for Australia.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance Bob McMullan charts new courses for Australia Overseas Development Assistance (ODA).

Joel Fitzgibbon argues that we are obliged to maintain our enduring commitment to the security and welfare of the Iraqi people.

Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law, Nick Sherry, shows why we will work with donors like the Asian Development Bank to ensure that meaningful and effective assistance is provided to Asia and the Pacific.

Look out for our upcoming events and programs on our website and in coming International Projects Quarterly Bulletins.

Michael Morgan
Director, International Projects

July 2008