Vanuatu’s Fight for Climate Justice, Military Uses of AI Part 1, Cook Islanders Rally Against Deep Sea Mining, Australia’s Public Health Spending Shortfall

Thursday Breakfast

Acknowledgement of Country// Headlines// The Honourable Ralph Regenvanu, Member of the Vanuatu Parliament for Port Vila and Special Climate Envoy, joined us to unpack various pushes by Vanuatu in the international regulatory and climate governance space to fight for Pacific climate justice, including a recent proposal to the International Criminal Court to include ecocide as a crime under the Rome Statute.// Branka Marijan, Senior Researcher at Project Ploughshares Canada, spoke with Priya earlier this week about the patchy and shifting regulatory landscape for military usage of artificial intelligence, including a reflection on the second Responsible AI in the Military Domain or REAIM Summit held earlier this month in Seoul, South Korea. On today's program, we heard part one of this conversation - tune in for part two next week! Branka leads Project Ploughshares' research on the military and security implications of emerging technologies. Her work examines concerns regarding the development of autonomous weapons systems and the impact of artificial intelligence and robotics on security provision and trends in warfare. Her research interests include trends in warfare, civilian protection, use of drones, and civil-military relations.// Louisa Casteldine and Dr Teina Rongo of Cook Islands grassroots collective Ocean Ancestors joined us from Rarotonga to discuss local concerns about and resistance to deep sea mining. On September 18 this year, Ocean Ancestors were involved in organising a sail-out rally to demonstrate community support for the fight to protect marine environments, ecosystems and kin from the threat posed by offshore extractive industries, as well as climate change, pollution and overfishing.// Emeritus Professor Alan Shiell from La Trobe University joined us today to speak on the shortfalls of public health spending, why the adequate allocation of funds matters, and what makes funding effective. Professor Shiell is an expert in health economics and is the lead author of new research published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.//