By Granting Australia's Claims to a Portion of Antartica, UN Continental Shelf Commission Acted Illegally Argues UNCLOS Expert

http://minister.ret.gov.au/TheHonMartinFergusonMP/Pages/UNCONFIRMSAUSTRALIA%E2%80%99SRIGHTSOVEREXTRA.aspx


UN CONFIRMS AUSTRALIA’S RIGHTS OVER EXTRA 2.5 MILLION SQUARE KILOMETRES OF SEABED


The Hon Martin Ferguson AM MP


April 21, 2008

Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson today welcomed findings from the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in New York confirming Australia’s jurisdiction over an additional 2.5 million square kilometres of seabed.


See map: http://minister.ret.gov.au/TheHonMartinFergusonMP/Documents/colour-cs-map-with-names3.pdf



The Commission’s findings confirm the location of the outer limit of Australia’s continental shelf in nine distinct marine regions and Australia’s entitlement to large areas of shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.


The decision means Australia now has jurisdiction over an extra 2.5 million square kilometres of continental shelf, which is almost five times the size of France, seven times the size of Germany and almost 10 times the size of New Zealand. It gives Australia the rights to what exists on and under the seabed, including:


· Oil resources;
· Gas resources; and
· Biological resources, such micro-organisms, which could be used in medicines.


“This is a major boost to Australia’s offshore resource potential and also to our ability to preserve the marine environment on the seabed,” Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson said.


“It demonstrates that Australia’s effective engagement in law of the sea matters delivers results. In many respects Australia has also led the way for other countries looking to confirm their continental shelf boundaries through the Commission. The Government will move quickly to proclaim the outer limits of the Australian continental shelf into law on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission.”


“The recommendations are further proof of the substantial benefits Australia has derived from ratification of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea by the previous Labor Government. It’s also a strong indication of the real and practical benefits of engaging constructively with the United Nations and its agencies.”


The Minister praised the contribution of Government officials from Geoscience Australia, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Attorney-General’s Department in preparing Australia’s detailed submission to the Commission.


“This is the culmination of over fifteen years of cutting edge work by a range of Government agencies and I would like to record the Government’s recognition of their contribution to this important outcome,” said Mr Ferguson.


Media Contact: Tracey Winters (Canberra) 0439 991 730

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There should be added in response to this announcement the comments of Dr. Peter M. Leitner, author of Reformign the Law of the Sea Treaty - Opportunities Missed, Precedents Set, and U.S. Sovereignty Threatened, (Univ Press of America (c) 1996).


Dr. Leitner essentially believes that if it is true that the UN Continental Shelf Commission recognized Australia's extended territorial claims as being adjacent to Australia's Antartica claims, the Commission, in effect, recognized the division of Antartica, and thereby acted arguably beyond its legal authority under the UNCLOS. Thus, its determination can be and should be voided as a violation of international law.


1. If you download the accompanying map it implies that the LOST gave Australia dominion of the Continental Shelf adjacent to their Antarctic claims. If this is true...[t]hat would be a UN sanctioned recognition of the division of Antarctica.


2. Harry Truman did not need any sanction from an international organization when he issued his 1948 proclaimation that the Cont Shelf out to a distance of 200 NM is US territory. Any US President today can issue a similar proclamation extending that limit as Australia says it is about to do.


3. We need to see the wording of the LOST decision to see what terms and conditions, caveats, etc., The LOST attached to its decision. I suspect we will find additional issues in the fine print.

Peter

LOST runs silent, runs deep

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071030/COMMENTARY03/110300011



Washington Times



October 30, 2007


Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. - In over 30 years of working in and watching the ways of Washington, I must say, I have never seen anything quite like it.


According to Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the entire Senate Republican leadership is now opposed to a controversial treaty supported by the president and an implausible alliance of special interests from the U.S. Navy to Greenpeace. At a joint press conference last Wednesday, he was one of several senators to declare that, as a result, supporters would be unable to muster the necessary 67 votes for ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST). Yet, it seems not one of the "establishment" media organs felt moved to report these momentous political developments.


More extraordinary still is the apparent news blackout concerning the fact that virtually every Republican presidential candidate (with the surprising, and hopefully ephemeral, exception of Rudy Giuliani) has announced either outright opposition to the treaty or deep misgivings about its inevitable effect: conferring more power on international organizations at the expense of U.S. sovereignty. Apart from a front-page article in The Washington Times last Friday and postings by an array of online news outlets, bloggers and a couple of newsletters, the so-called "mainstream media" have denied the American people virtually any information about LOST's growing difficulties.


The seemingly deliberate suppression of bad news concerning an accord favored by the elite is being compounded by a similar lack of transparency on the part of the Senate itself. The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has scheduled a panel vote on LOST for tomorrow — ignoring a request from one of his colleagues, Sen. David Vitter, Louisiana Republican, for additional hearings and additional testimony from those opposed to the treaty.


Mr. Vitter recognized the Senate's need to hear from more than two critics of the treaty — each of whom were given just seven minutes to provide their oral critique. If anything, that necessity became even more urgent after several of the nine proponents from whom the Foreign Relations Committee took testimony, misled the panel (to put it charitably) about various provisions of LOST and their ominous implications.


It might seem unimaginable that Bush administration officials, such as Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and State Department Legal Adviser John Bellinger, could get away with dissembling before a Senate committee led by a Democrat who wants to be considered a serious contender for the presidency. Perhaps that is happening because Mr. Biden could not find the time to attend either of the two hearings he called concerning the treaty. Neither for that matter did the panel's two other active presidential candidates, Democrats Barack Obama of Illinois and Chris Dodd of Connecticut. Don't bother them with the facts. Let's vote.


Then there is the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. It did manage to hold a hearing on LOST, but it was a classified session and only featured official witnesses. Unsurprisingly, all of them supported ratification. What is surprising, though, is Chairman Jay Rockefeller's uncharacteristic acceptance at face value of representations by executive branch officials like Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell. Based on such testimony, Sen. Rockefeller of West Virginia recently signed a letter with Republican Vice Chairman Kit Bond of Missouri declaring that U.S. adherence to the treaty would have no negative implications for U.S. intelligence. While there are strong arguments to the contrary, Mr. Rockefeller, like Mr. Biden, has no time for a second opinion that might produce inconvenient truths.


As things stand now, the Foreign Relations Committee's inaccurate and unbalanced record will be the only public one senators have to go on. Formal requests made by Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, a senior member of the Senate's Armed Services and Environment and Public Works committees, asking them to examine the treaty's myriad repercussions for matters within their jurisdiction are going unanswered. The same is true of similar appeals made to those and six of the Senate's other committees with relevant areas of responsibility by the Coalition to Preserve American Sovereignty (see http://www.rejectlost.org/Letters_to_the_Senate.html ).


So, here's what senators and their constituents need to know as decision time looms on LOST: Ronald Reagan rejected the Law of the Sea Treaty 25 years ago. We have been able to survive ever since without being a party to it, following Mr. Reagan's direction — observing its provisions regarding navigation, with which we can live, and not being bound by those hostile to our interests.


The latter involve, among other things, a supranational, United Nations-affiliated government of the seas with the power to extend its authority to our interior waters, sovereign territory and even our air. There is no justification for haste, let alone stealth, in trying to make such a treaty the "supreme law of the land."


The Republican leadership, both in Congress and on the presidential hustings, recognizes that what is at stake in LOST amount to defining issues. These leaders learned something from the ugly fiasco that resulted during the elite's recent efforts to foist immigration "reform" on the American people. Much of the public is deeply skeptical of secretive initiatives that would, similarly: undermine U.S. sovereignty; compromise our constitutional, representative form of government and its exclusive responsibility for regulating our national affairs; and endanger our security interests and economic competitiveness.


As with immigration, it matters not a whit to millions of American voters that President Bush and the establishment elite support such dubious initiatives. In the absence of Senate due-diligence and transparency about LOST, particularly those senators up for reelection next year flout this pivotal part of the electorate at their peril.


Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. is president of the Center for Security Policy and a participant in the Coalition to Preserve American Sovereignty.

LOST - LAW OF THE SEA TREATY: Minority Report blog Washington DC

October 8, 2007



http://www.theminorityreportblog.com/story/steven_foley/2007/10/08/lost_law_of_the_sea_treaty