SYDNEY -- Australia is far from happy about becoming the unofficial, reluctant policeman of the South Pacific. The latest tally of young, politically inept countries that expect Canberra to keep the peace for them has risen to four. And that's not counting the nearest potential hot spot, Indonesia's eastern province of Papua. Papua's ethnic-political problem, both Jakarta and Canberra agree, is an international no-go zone.
* In nearby East Timor, domestic tensions and violence are bubbling up again. East Timor Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta has urged the United Nations to send in a "robust" force in the lead-up to elections if fighting escalates. It was through an Australian-led U.N. police action that this former Indonesian province attained independence seven years ago.
* Papua New Guinea faces festering problems of tribal tensions and corruption at high levels. In the capital, Port Moresby, Australia's efforts to help clean up official waste were stymied by a PNG Supreme Court decision that forced Canberra to remove police sent to help fight crime. Competent Canberra public servants trying to bring order to public accounts wonder when their marching orders will come.