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2012/01: Australian nationals taken hostage: Are the policies and actions of the Australian government adequate?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right:An ABC television news report from December 6, 2011, detailing the kidnapping in the Philippines of Australia national, Warren Rodwell. The report includes a comment from Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.
What they said...
'To the Australian embassy here in the Philippines, this is your constituent appealing for his life and safety ... If I'm given my last wish, my last wish is to please help me out of here alive please Madame Ambassador.'
Part of kidnap victim Warren Rodwell's plea for help
'It is not helpful to Mr Rodwell's interests to go into detail on the operational handling of this case.'
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
The issue at a glance
On December 5, 2011, Australian national, Warren Rodwell, 53, was seized from his home in the town of Ipil, on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.
On January 5, 2012, a video recording was released showing Mr Rodwell pleading for his family and the Australian government to secure his life through the payment of a $2 million ransom. The Australian government has an established policy of not paying ransoms as it argues that to do so encourages further kidnaps.
Mr Rodwell's plight has once more focused attention on how the Australian government deals with the kidnapping of Australian nationals living or travelling overseas.
On August 23, 2008, Nigel Brennan, a photo journalist, was kidnapped with Canadian journalist, Amanda Lindhout, and a number of Somali nationals on 23 outside Mogadishu, Somali. The hostage takers demanded a multi-million dollar ransom which the Australian government refused to pay.
The Somali nationals were released in January 2009. Mr Brennan and Ms Lindhout were released on 25 November 2009 after their families engaged a private security firm and paid a ransom of around US$600,000.
The Brennan's were subsequently highly critical of the manner in which the Australian government, and in particular, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, handled Mr Brennan's kidnap. They considered the government's policies inflexible and claimed they were not kept informed and were not treated with consideration.
Following these accusations, there was a Senate inquiry conducted in 2011, which made eight recommendations as to how the Australian government might manage such situations better in the future.