Dr Jane Verbitsky is senior lecturerer and programme leader in conflict resolution.
Her research interests are broadly centered on international governance and trans-national policy areas and she teaches an Asia-Pacific Issues paper. In particular, her recent research has focused on: Antarctic governance; justice institutions (both domestic and international); and New Zealand refugee policy.
She says that because of the lack of a sovereign government in Antarctica, the continent is governed through a unique, multilateral condominium governance system known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS):
I have a particular interest in the key ATS decision-making group, the 28 Consultative Parties, and the tourism policy framework they have created in the white continent.
Tourism in Antarctica has increased significantly since the 1980s, but I have argued that ATS tourism initiatives have not kept pace with real-time changes, and that the Consultative Parties need urgently to address and rectify this situation (preferably through a dedicated Tourism Convention) in order to maintain their legitimacy as the self-designated stewards of Antarctica.
Jane's home page at AUT
Other Jane Verbitsky articles on PMC Online