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In his 1993 Boyer lecture, Getano Lui (Jnr) called for a change in the status of Torres Strait governance structures within the Australian federation, nominating the Centenary of Federation on January 1, 2001 as a possible time for change. In 1996, the Commonwealth Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs initiated a Parliamentary Committee inquiry into greater autonomy for the people of Torres Strait, which reported favourably in 1997. This report was not, however, greeted all that favourably by Torres Strait Islanders and it now seems unlikely that any significantly new governance structures for Torres Strait will be in place by the Centenary of Federation. This paper attempts to explain why. The paper begins with a review of existing Torres Strait governance structures and the processes of political change taking place within them during the 1990s. It then considers the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee's report and reactions to those recommendations. It argues that the Parliamentary Committee made some ill-conceived and inappropriate recommendations because it did not understand processes of political change occurring in Torres Strait during the 1990s and did not come to grips with the strength and depth of Islander feelings of distinctiveness from Aboriginal Australians. It examines government responses to the Parliamentary Committee inquiry and further Islander reactions in the light of these. In its final section, the paper argues that while there have been missed opportunities along the way, the Centenary of Federation was, in fact, always an ambitious timetable for the reform of Torres Strait governance structures. There are significant unresolved issues still to be addressed among Islanders and there have, in recent years, been other more pressing issues to attend to, such as native title. The Centenary of Federation has proven to be not so much a missed opportunity for Torres Strait governance structures as just bad timing.

In his 1993 Boyer lecture, Getano Lui Jnr called for a change in the status of Torres Strait governance structures within the Australian federation, nominating the centenary of Federation on 1 January 2001 as a possible time for change. In 1996, the Commonwealth Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs initiated a parliamentary committee inquiry into greater autonomy for the people of the Torres Strait, which reported favourably in 1997. This report was not, however, greeted all that favourably by Torres Strait Islanders and it now seems unlikely that any significantly new governance structures for Torres Strait will be in place by the centenary of Federation. This paper attempts to explain why.

Sanders reviews 'Citizens Without Rights: Aborigines and Australian Citizenship' by John Chesterman and Brian Galligan.

AFTER 70 YEARS AS A ONE-PARTY STATE WITH A SOVIET-STYLE LEGISLATURE, MONGOLIA HELD ITS FIRST EVER MULTI-PARTY ELECTIONS IN 1990. HOWEVER, THE GENERAL ELECTIONS IN 1992 WERE WON BY THE EX-COMMUNIST MONGOLIAN PEOPLE'S REVOLUTIONARY PARTY AND THE REFORM DRIVE SLACKENED. IN THE 1996 ELECTIONS THE DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE WON 50 SEATS IN THE GREAT KHURAL AND THE REFORM DRIVE WAS RESTARTED, BUT AFTER A MID-TERM CABINET CHANGE IN APRIL 1998 THE DA LOST THE INTERPRETATION OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL ROLES OF THE GOVERNMENT AND PRESIDENT, AND THE SECOND DA CABINET WAS DEFEATED ON A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE IN JULY. FOUR MONTHS LATER THE ISSUES WERE STILL UNRESOLVED.

MONGOLIA IS AN INDEPENDENT LAND-LOCKED STATE SITUATED IN THE HEART OF NORTH-EAST ASIA BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA. SINCE 1992 ALL FORMS OF TRANSPORT IN MONGOLIA HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY DISRUPTED BY THE IRREGULARITY OF FUEL SUPPLIES FROM RUSSIA, THE CHIEF SUPPLIER. IF IT IS TO OVERCOME THE DISADVANTAGES OF LAND-LOCKEDNESS AND ATTRACT LARGE-SCALE LONG-TERM INVESTMENT TO DEVELOP THE NEW MARKET ECONOMY AND EXPORT TRADE, MONGOLIA NEEDS TO LIBERALIZE ITS LAWS AND BUILD UP INTERNATIONAL CONFIDENCE IN ITS STABILITY, FLEXIBILITY, RELIABILITY AND INDUSTRIOUSNESS.