Launch of ASPI Special Reports
Australia and the South Pacific:
Rising to the Challenge
Engaging our neighbours: Towards a
new relationship between Australia and the Pacific
Islands
Salutation
Thank you very much Peter [Abigail, ASPI Director].
Introduction
I am delighted to launch these two reports on Pacific Island Affairs published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). I very much welcome the contribution ASPI makes, and has long made, to the policy debate in the Pacific. Previous ASPI reports, including Strengthening Our Neighbours: Australia and the Future of PNG (in 2004), have made important contributions to Australia’s Pacific policy.
And I commend you, Peter Abigail, and Ian Sinclair, Antony Bergin and all the taskforce members and contributors for the two papers we are launching today. These reports will inform public discussion on the challenges facing the Pacific.
As Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Islands Affairs, of course, I will be taking a close look at the reports’ ideas and recommendations.
Australia’s Relations with the Pacific
These reports come at a watershed in Australia’s relations with our region.
I am struck by the many points of resonance between the main issues raised in the papers and the matters on which the Government is already engaged in the region, or looking to be engaged. The election of new governments in the region (including Australia) have provided an opportunity to see old issues from new perspectives, consider new options, and to take advantage of new openings. We also have new opportunities to benchmark and measure current policy settings against where we want to go, and the sort of Pacific partnerships to which we and the region aspire.
Partnerships
True partnerships are built on trust, mutual respect and investment by both partners. Future Pacific Development Partnerships must be built on knowledge, understanding and trust.
There is no single ‘right’ answer to achieving outcomes in the Pacific – informed debate and contestability of ideas are an important part of policy development.
The Labor Government is committed to a constructive approach to developing positive relationships and partnerships in the Pacific – partnerships that build on our strengths and opportunities; rather than just highlighting weaknesses and threats in the Pacific. The work of ASPI and other contributors in the strategic policy and academic sectors are extremely important in this pursuit.
Australia’s Interests
Australia’s interests lie in a stable, prosperous and growing Pacific neighbourhood.
Our Government is committed to pursuing a new policy towards the Pacific, founded on mutual respect and understanding, as announced by the Prime Minister last week in the Port Moresby Declaration. At the heart of this new policy is the genesis of Pacific Development Partnerships. These partnerships provide a new framework for Australia and the Pacific Island nations to commit jointly to shared goals.
Our approach to partnership is also regional – perhaps best exemplified in our commitment to host the Pacific Islands Forum in 2009.
The Government is working hard to reinvigorate relations with our Pacific neighbours; and this year Bob McMullan and I have already made three visits to the region to meet face-to-face with Pacific leaders. In February, we visited Samoa, Tonga and Kiribati. In March, we accompanied Foreign Minister Stephen Smith on his visit to the Solomon Islands for the inaugural Pacific Islands Forum Ministerial Standing Committee (FMSC) meeting on RAMSI. And just last week, we accompanied Prime Minister Rudd on his historic official visit to Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.
We have been very pleased with the efforts key Pacific leaders have made to visit Australia and to meet with us so early in our first term. All of these intense, personal interactions have underscored the fresh start to relationships, and paves the way for productive action to address regional challenges.
Australia in the Pacific
Australia – in partnership with New Zealand – has a critical supporting role to play in the development of stability and prosperity in the Pacific region.
We are keen to work with other partners who share our interests in, and vision for, the Pacific. With enough commitment from all parties, there are now genuine prospects to reverse negative trends in health, welfare, education and economic levels, in a number of Pacific Island countries.
Australia is committed to revitalising our relationship with Papua New Guinea. And we are very pleased to find PNG feels the same way. We were delighted to see the warm welcome extended last week to Prime Minister Rudd by Prime Minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, and by the people of PNG.
Next month, Australian Ministers will travel to Madang for the Australia-PNG Ministerial Forum, which will be held for the first time since 2005. The forum offers an opportunity to build on this new phase in our relationship and to tackle important issues, including climate change.
Australia also welcomes the commitment shown by the new Solomon Islands Government to work closely and cooperatively with Australia on RAMSI and on our bilateral relationship. RAMSI continues to make good progress – promoting stability, good governance, and economic reform and growth. Australia’s bilateral aid program complements RAMSI, focusing on improving access to critical health services and education, supporting poverty reduction, peace-building and the sustainable management of natural resources.
Australia is also committed to celebrating success in the region, such as those highlighted during my recent trip with Bob McMullan to Samoa, Tonga and Kiribati.
Not All Good News
Unfortunately, it is not all good news; the Australian Government is deeply concerned about political and economic trends in Fiji.
The economic outlook for Fiji is bleak – the economy contracted by more than 4 per cent in 2007. Reports of human rights abuses, intimidation of critics and interference in the judiciary and other key institutions continue to come out of the country.
Commodore Bainimarama gave an undertaking, at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Tonga last October, to hold an election by March 2009. We are very concerned about slow progress in preparing for those elections.
At the next Pacific Island Forum Foreign Ministers meeting in Auckland later this month, Australia and our regional government partners will assess the progress being made by the interim regime, and the way forward.
In line with our broader approach to partnerships in the Pacific, Australia is committed to a stable, prosperous and peaceful Fiji, working in the interests of its entire people. Australia condemns the use of military force to overthrow democratically-elected governments in Fiji or anywhere else. But we are committed to seeing Fiji return to democracy and a democratic process that can rid itself of the culture of coups and counter-coups that have so damaged its economies, societies and international reputation over the past twenty years.
The way forward
Economic growth in the Pacific is falling behind other developing regions, resulting in a range of social concerns, including widespread unemployment, particularly among young males. The future of the region will depend on getting economic policy fundamentals right.
The goal for Australia is to work with the governments and the people of the Pacific to promote stability and achieve economic growth and development.
Australia is committed to continued reform processes that open and build robust economies in the Pacific, and these must include specific approaches to capital investment, land and labour in the region.
The Pacific has to attract foreign direct investment to stimulate economic growth – this can only be done through continued improvement in the business-enabling environment in the region. Australia is committed to continued strategic policy engagement on land, including through a regional land initiative funded by AusAID (providing over $2.8 million support over three years). And we are also continuing its commitment to the ‘up-skilling’ of labour in the region through the Australia Pacific Technical College. Australia’s approach to partnerships and partnership investment has to identify what targeted physical and institutional capital may be needed in the region.
And freeing up the flow of goods and services in the region will also be paramount to future economic growth.
I am also personally committed to ongoing communication with the region on its interest in labour mobility. We are studying this complex issue carefully. Australia is very keen to learn from the New Zealand experience. And we would like to have a Pacific Forum-wide discussion on the issue at the next Pacific Islands Forum Meeting in Niue.
The Government is committed to working towards the comprehensive regional free trade agreement envisaged by
Forum Leaders under the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic
Relations (known as PACER Plus). We acknowledge that the PACER Plus arrangements will take
time and that we must take account of the needs of smaller
Pacific countries. By working closely and in partnerships with
our Pacific neighbours on these and other issues, we as a
government can help the region and its people to achieve their
economic and social goals and aspirations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Pacific Development Partnerships, as outlined in the Port Moresby Declaration, aim to provide better development outcomes for Pacific Island nations by:
- improving economic infrastructure
- enhancing private sector development
- achieving quality, universal basic education
- improving health outcomes and
- enhancing governance.
We are prepared to increase partnership investment over time in a spirit of mutual responsibility.
Through our Government’s new approach to the Pacific we aspire to assist the Pacific region deliver on its enormous potential. Our approach is based on mutual agreement, and is grounded in the forging of new partnerships between Australia and our Pacific neighbours.
To this end, it is vitally important to have more public discussion on the Pacific and Australia’s relationship with our region. I thank ASPI very much for playing such a crucial role in taking forward this agenda.
Thank you very much
Media inquiries: Mr Kerr's office - 02 6277 4991