VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBY #1201 3360630
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 010630Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY CANBERRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0595
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L CANBERRA 001201 
 
SENSITIVE 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PM/WRA KATHERINE BAKER AND SHO MORIMOTO, 
EAP/ANP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2018 
TAGS: PARM MOPS PREL NATO AS
SUBJECT: AUSTRALIA PREPARES TO SIGN CONVENTION ON CLUSTER 
MUNITIONS 
 
REF: A. STATE 125625 
     ¶B. STATE 125608 
     ¶C. STATE 125512 
 
Classified By: Acting Political Counselor John W. Crowley for reasons 1 
.4(b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C/NF) Gerry McGuire, Director, Arms Control and 
Counter-Proliferation Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs 
and Trade (DFAT), confirmed Foreign Minister Smith will sign 
the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) in Oslo this week. 
He advised that the Australian Department of Defence and 
Attorney General's offices continue to discuss practical 
legal and policy implementation issues, particularly those 
related to Australian personnel imbedded with U.S. forces. 
Once signed, the CCM will be referred to the GOA Joint 
Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) for review, followed 
by drafting of new legislation.  McGuire indicated the 
convention will undergo public scrutiny during these 
processes and the current legal review will prepare 
government officials to articulate legal and policy 
interpretations.  Issues which may be politically contentious 
include participation by Australian exchange personnel in 
planning military operations using cluster munitions or 
training others in the use of cluster munitions. 
 
¶2.  (C/NF) McGuire shared that initial communications with 
Gustavo Ainchil from Argentina, the new chair of the Group of 
Governmental Experts (GGE) of the Convention on Certain 
Conventional Weapons (CCW), indicate that new text may be 
required for discussions in 2009, as the old text is 
considered "dead".  According to McGuire, Ainchil also 
observed that NGO's and the Group of 25 need to be realistic 
about the CCW efforts on cluster munitions, which can affect 
50 percent of the world's arsenal whereas the CCM has 
comparatively little or no impact. 
 
MCCALLUM