Decoding government-speak on the cluster bomb bill

Paul Barratt, former Secretary of Defence Department: "Legislation in these terms is clearly at odds with a convention whose central purpose is to prevent the use of cluster munitions…".

Forty-seven eminent Australians with relevant expertise have also disagreed with the government.

Line 2: "States party to the Convention may continue military cooperation and engagement with countries that are not party to the Convention. The ability to maintain interoperability is central to the maintenance of Australia's national security."

The Convention (in article 21) protects the troops of countries like Australia from being prosecuted should they inadvertently become involved in cluster bomb use while on joint operations with countries that have not signed up to the Convention. However, it goes against the entire purpose of the Convention to argue, as the government does, that article 21 means Australian forces can knowingly help the US plan cluster bomb attacks and assist in the use of the very weapons we have supposedly committed ourselves to banning.

Raising "national security" in this context is disingenuous. It would be awful if Australian national security did depend on us assisting in the use of cluster bombs and permitting them to be stockpiled on our soil but, as the above experts have made clear, this is not the case.

As Frank Brennan highlights, New Zealand has done a better job with its legislation, which allows participation in joint military operations without undermining the Convention's absolute prohibition on assistance with the use of cluster bombs.

Line 3: "Australia has been a strong advocate of an international ban on cluster munitions. Australia was an active player in the negotiations and one of the first countries to sign the Convention."

Australia was not an early supporter of a ban on cluster munitions and at a UN conference in November 2006 it didn't vote in favour of a proposal for an instrument "that addresses the humanitarian concerns posed by cluster munitions." The nations that did support this proposal later met outside the UN, hosted by Norway, to discuss what eventually became the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Australia did not attend the initial meeting of this group.

Nor did Australia act nobly once it did get involved. Lyn Allison, former leader of the Australian Democrats, and instigator of a previous Bill attempting to achieve an Australian ban on cluster munitions, said in the Canberra Times on 27 May 2008, "It would almost be better if we weren't involved at all. Our input has been shameful, placing military concerns ahead of humanitarian needs. Instead of listening to the legitimate pleas of medical and de-mining groups, the Government has kowtowed to army honchos."

The US embassy cables released by Wikileaks amply illustrate that Australia did become "an active player in the negotiations," but not in the way the government implies. Australia worked to water down key aspects of the treaty as part of a "like-minded" group aligned with the USA (which has stated it sees cluster munitions as a legitimate weapon and has no intention of signing the Convention). Shamefully, Australia lobbied Asian nations, including Vietnam, affected by cluster bombs, to push for the weaker wording and labelled countries and NGOs arguing for a total ban as "hardline." The Age reported that Nobel Peace laureate Jody Williams, who led the campaign to ban landmines, accused Australia of being part of a "bad guys' cabal."

Australia, creditably, worked to ensure provisions on victim assistance and land clearance were included in the treaty. Although, given the line Australia pushed to enable it to operate jointly with the US even as the US was using cluster bombs, future victims might have been better served had the Australian delegation spent more time pushing for wording that ensured cluster bombs wouldn't be dropped in the first place.

To clarify the treaty signing spin: Australia was one of ninety-four nations that signed the Convention the day it opened for signature.