From the AFR comes this interesting snippet:
Defence will review the fatal Algerian gas plant hostage crisis to develop a strategy to better protect up to 5000 Australian mining, oil and gas workers across Africa.
The chief of the Defence Force, General David Hurley, told a defence lunch in Canberra on Monday that the incident in which al-Qaeda-linked terrorists killed at least 48 hostages during a four-day siege at a gas plant deep in the Sahara, would be exhaustively examined to see what could be done to improve safety for resource workers.
Apparently there are between 4,000 and 5,000 Australian miners in Africa and $60 billion in investment. An epic globalisation success story so long they survive!
Maybe they could launch a website with warnings for work in dangerous countries…oh wait they already do that for normal travel.
Or a special travel levy to fund a long range capability swat team of SAS soldiers to go in and get them out when things go wrong.
Aside from that what can they recommend?
So we’ll be there with the U.S and the French.
Here comes GGRG 1, the Great Global Resource Grab 1. WWs as in World Wars are so last century.
Protecting miners in Africa, more like protecting mines in Africa.
+1
The Chinese own large chunks of African resources. And their response is?
U.S (Corporations) proposition to the Chinese would be, No problem, you can always buy from us.
Yes, and special forces income 80-100K on continuous deployment, Oz miner in Africa 200K+.
2CDO and SASR newbie Privates/Troopers start on $101K. http://www.defencejobs.gov.au/army/jobs/Commando/PayAndAllowances/
Would our builders go to Africa to build some houses for the workers ?
I wonder how many Oz miners would have to die in Africa for Gina to stop complaining about costs in Australia.
? Good grief.
I’m guessing more than one, slightly less than all?
Hurley must have nothing better to do.
Most African countries are pretty safe; those with security issues provide guarded compounds; and let’s face it, in the Algerian situation our Defence Forces would have been able to do sweet f/a.
The compounds may be safe but the job sites are often very far from town.
Egypt, Sudan, Mali, Western Sahara , Morroco, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Libya …. just a few African countries with some security issues that coincide with resources. That doesn’t include the IR issues bubbling away in Sth Africa.
These conditions tend to favour China. They seem to be more accepting of risk when investing in these situations and could end up doing so with less serious competition. A lot is happening in Africa.
GSM my understanding is that the bulk of Oz projects are domiciled in West Africa. I been to projects Ghana/Tanzania/Cote d’ivoire in the 90s, relatively stable and great places to work. I once had R&R in Monrovia. Some level of risk is always associated with projects in developing economies – the Islamic tensions in some places (most of those you have listed) definitely increase the potential for conflict or sabotage but generally there is very little. The projects range in size from exploratory to substantial, the Oz numbers varying greatly from site to site and the sites themselves geographically diverse. Call me a cynic, however, I fail to see how the Australia Defence Force could do anything preventative.
Hurley is having Mossad dreams.
GSM is definitely correct that Chinese mining interests are developing projects in areas where personal and sovereignty risk are considered unacceptable to western companies.
I have heard informal accounts of growing tensions at mines, within PNG and Angola, in particular, where Chinese mining entities are blurring the lines between safety for their miners and local area social re-engineering with imported “protected” labor. It will be very interesting to see how western gov’ts view these activities when they inevitably go pear shaped.
I wonder if the proxy wars for South Sudan independence might be the model that is followed.
It’s all about to become even more safe and democratic.
US deploying troops to 35 African countries
http://rt.com/usa/news/us-deploying-troops-order-749/
I think that includes, or may mean, China out! And 3d1k, any investments you may have from these mines, are assured.
Ahhhh. Epiphany. We have the perfect training ground now that Labor understands the importance of the resources sector.
Necessary drills and protective operations can take place here in Oz. Troops can monitor extremist activities by scarf-wearing activists outside minesites; special forces patrol the treetops at Whitehaven for media release aficionados and armoured convoys protect passage into James Price Point from hoards of unemployed dreadlockers.
I wonder if Marn has had a word to Hurley,
Do you really get paid for this?
3d1k,
Dunno.
Labour understands the importance of the African resource sector. They still show every intention of pillaging the Australian version
I would have hoped that our defence force had realised they only had a relatively small budget. Being the deputy sheriff of Africa is not in the budget.Hopefully the pollies will not fall for this, altho heavens knows Africans states are now calling on the UN to provide funds.
Is this part of the price of a seat on the Security Council – what behind the scenes arrangements have been made.
My core difficulty is the entirely arbitrary nature of military ‘inverventions’ – forces deployed in one nation whilst in a neighbouring nation bloodshed and tyranny carry on.
And from a recipient nation perspective, are these interventions always welcomed, particularly of the kind I understand Hurley to be speaking, are they even legal under international law. Where would we stand if at a Chinese owned mining project in the Pilbara extremists attacked and Chinese military intervened.
Whilst there may be genuine problems with militants etc does intervention smack of colonialism – Africa nations may need develop mechanisms to deal with insurgents on their own terms (I am not talking Rwanda here).
I find the proposal concerning.
Please, someone get me a shotgun as I’m finding myself agreeing with 2d!
Hang on; Wouldn’t an unstable Africa mean a stable Australia would look more attractive to international investors? Perhaps we should be looking to cause more chaos not resolve it.
Just threaten them that we will send Bob Carr to fix their infrastructure … that should scare the shit out of them.