Review of 'Looking South - Australia's Antarctic Agenda': Edited by Lorne K Kriwoken, Julia Jabour and Alan It Hemmings. Annandale, New South Wales: The Federation Press, November 2007, 227 pp. ISBN: 9781862876576

Abstract

'Looking South - Australia's Antarctic Agenda' represents an extremely comprehensive and well-written overview of Australia's activities and agenda in the Antarctic region since 1933. In that year, Australia laid claim to 42% of the Antarctic continent, a continent that represents 8% of the total landmass of the planet. Furthermore, Australia has a claim over a number of sub Antarctic islands (Macquarie, Head and the McDonald Island) each with significant biodiversity and rich offshore fishing grounds. It is, therefore, not surprising that Australia is an active member of the Antarctic Treaty System. As the book's authors point out, advances in technology now allow humans to reside all year round on the continent. Furthermore, there is increasing interest in exploiting the various resources that the Antarctic continent has to offer, and a significant level of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities all of which put the fragile ecosystem of the continent under increasing pressure. Unfortunately, as Professor Stuart Harris points out in his foreword to this text, there is limited public understanding of Australia's interests and role in the Antarctic, a major concern for those closely associated with the continent. However, this excellent book offers one way to raise public awareness of Australia's agenda in the Antarctic and the complexities of dealing with a remote continent with vast resource potential administered by multiple sovereign states.