In the fourth week of this series, Richard Woolcott believes the changing world order and the government’s exploitation of the alliance for domestic purposes will change Australian attitudes to the alliance. Paul Barratt discusses the importance of managing the national interest when it conflicts with alliance demands by explaining Australia’s resistance to US pressure during revisions to the law of the sea in the 1970s
Paul Barratt AO illustrates the culture of 'plausible deniability' in Ministers' offices with a compelling example from his own experience as Secretary of the Department of Defence in 1998. He outlines the ever-increasing confusion over the roles and responsibilities of Departments, Ministers, and Ministerial staff, and calls for the public service to stop relying on unaccountable oral communication and get back on the paper trail
Paul Barratt puts the AWB scandal into its true context. At the very time that the AWB kickbacks were being paid to the Iraqi regime, Australian naval officers were involved in operations to prevent attempts to break the sanctions. Given this context, Barratt considers what the government should have done to honour its obligations under the sanctions and argues that more diligence should have been applied in the examination of contracts
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