A message from the Chair
Officially the centenary of The Round Table journal (started in the Edwardian era) did not start until 2010. But the preparations, started ahead of time.
And I thought it would be good to provide a monthly update for readers and supporters of our journal, starting in July 2009 after my re-election for a final year as Chair of the editorial advisory board, (known since the early twentieth century as the Moot).
Richard Bourne
View the messages by selecting any of the links below:
August 2010
Australia's inconclusive election meant that whoever became Prime Minister -- Julia Gillard for Labor, or Tony Abbott for the Liberal/ National coalition -- would preside over the first Commonwealth summit they had ever attended. This is not unprecedented. Tony Blair was in the same situation when he chaired the Edinburgh summit in 1997. But it is a reminder that the remorseless turnovers of democracy are sharply reducing the continuities of political interest in the intergovernmental Commonwealth. Does this mean that Commonwealth affairs are now more in the hands of officials? And can new leaders learn fast enough how best to use this unique network?
For Australia, which has its own Round Table chapter, has a proud record in the contemporary Commonwealth. It played an important role in the Lusaka Accord of 1979, which paved the way to Zimbabwean independence. It helped establish the Special Fund for Mozambique in 1987. It pushed for the Commonwealth Secretariat to set up a human rights unit in the 1980s, and was responsible in 2002 at Coolum to getting a clear-cut commitment to freedom of the media and expression. Uniquely it will have hosted two summits in nine years -- at Coolum in 2002 and Perth in 2011 -- making it arguably the most pro-Commonwealth nation of the 54. For over 20 years a succession of Australian diplomats held the key post as director of political affairs in the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Australia has regional interests in Asia and the South Pacific, but its activity in the Commonwealth supports a more ambitious world-wide status. Much is expected from the Perth summit, where the Commonwealth will be using a report from its Eminent Persons Group to renew its capacity; the fact that the Coolum summit in 2002 was responsible for a disappointing implementation of a previous end-of-decade review is likely to make the Australians more terrier-like next year.
One thing that Perth can do is to set up an induction programme for senior politicians, involving the Secretariat, Commonwealth Foundation and Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. It asks a lot of a President or Prime Minister when their first introduction to this idiosyncratic body is to chair its summit.
You may also be interested in a special issue of The Round Table entitled Australia and the Commonwealth World
Richard Bourne