New civil-military centre to improve Asia Pacific security
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Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was forced to launch the new centre outside after the sprinkler system went off. (ABC TV)
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has officially opened a new Asia Pacific Civil-Military Centre of Excellence in Queanbeyan south-east of Canberra.
The centre aims to contribute to peace and security in the region by assisting government and non-government organisations to improve civil-military cooperation when responding to disasters and conflicts.
But the centre had a minor incident of its own during the official opening this morning.
The sprinkler system activated forcing the evacuation of hundreds of guests from the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre. The launch was moved to the stairs outside.
The centre's executive director, Michael Smith, says when dealing with disasters the challenge is to organise the chaos.
"That's what makes this a very difficult area to work in, there's never any one template that you can put down," he said.
"We're dealing with people and often we're dealing with people and governments who themselves might have problems internally."
The centre will also partner with multi-national organisations like the World Bank and the United Nations.
Mr Smith says he has already been asked by the UN to lead a delegation to Nepal.
"They're looking at trying to assist the Nepalese in how they will move forward with the Nepalese army and the Maoist army to have an integrated approach," he said.
"That's actually a civil military issue as much as anything else, so that's a practical issue that we've actually been asked to assist in."
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