Speech notes - Australian Association for the Advancement of Pacific Studies ‘Oceania Connections’ Conference

Australia’s New Partnerships with the Region

Canberra, 18 April 2008

Salutation

Thank you Stewart Firth [MC and Head, Pacific Centre, ANU].

• Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today and to open this conference.
• I applaud the work of the Australian Association for the Advancement of Pacific Studies (AAAPS)
  • both the work its scholars
  • but also its advocacy work on Pacific issues.
• The Government very much values the contribution the AAAPS and other groups make to these discussions.

Australia’s interests in the Pacific

• Australia’s national interests are intimately tied to those of our near Pacific neighbours.  Our interests are best served by a stable, prosperous and growing Pacific neighbourhood
  • interests include security, consular and economic.
• But our interests also reflect the values and expectations of Australians
  • we want to see our Pacific neighbours carve out a better future

Potential of the Pacific

• As you all know, there is huge potential for the Pacific nations to achieve this.
• The Australian Government’s 2008 Pacific Economic Survey forecasts stronger economic growth for the Pacific in coming years.
• Improved economic management and political stability, as well as increased competition in the aviation and telecommunications sectors, are expected to continue to spur the region’s economic expansion.
• Many Pacific nations have enormous tourism potential
  • some such as Vanuatu and the Cook Islands are doing well in harnessing it
• The youthfulness of the population of Pacific countries is often cast as a negative
  • there’s no question, it does create challenges in terms of delivering employment, health, education and other services
  • most Pacific countries have 30 to 40 per cent of their population aged 14 or under (19 per cent in Australia).
• But this also creates opportunities
  • the human resources dimension is an important part of the potential of the Pacific
  • if the opportunities are created, our young Pacific neighbours will be able to make a vital contribution to their nations’ futures

Our Government’s New Approach

• The Government has charted a new course in its Pacific relations, based on engaging more effectively and working to realise shared development aspirations.
• A guiding principle of the Partnership concept is our respect for the sovereignty, leadership and ultimate responsibility of our Pacific partners for their own development.
• We have undertaken an intense program of high-level contact with our near neighbours in the Pacific, including Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Kiribati and Tonga.
• These visits and those by Pacific leaders to Canberra reflect the priority we are putting on ‘personal diplomacy based on friendship and familiarity’.
• Our Government’s approach focuses on Australia working alongside our Pacific neighbours to help them unlock their potential.
• Our new policy framework was set out by the Prime Minister in his Port Moresby Declaration, during his visit to PNG in March.
• The cornerstone of our new approach is Pacific Development Partnerships
  • these are bilateral understandings with Pacific nations that will specify how we will work together on issues and priorities identified as important by both sides.
• We anticipate that Pacific Development Partnerships will be pursued in the context of making stronger progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.
• The Port Moresby Declaration envisages the partnerships will identify ways to pursue jointly common goals in areas such as economic infrastructure, employment, private sector development, microfinance, health and governance.
• Underpinning the Pacific Partnerships for Development approach is a move away from a “one-size-fits-all” solution to Pacific issues.
• Pacific Partnerships will be flexible enough to reflect the cultural, historical and political circumstances of individual Pacific states.
• It’s a move away from short-term, prescriptive fixes, to a longer-term, more systemic view that allows for the region to act on its aspirations.
• In charting this course we will be working with our close partner New Zealand, and also with Japan, the United States and the European Union.
• The partnerships will involve more than just traditional development assistance
  • they will involve trade and economic cooperation and policy dialogue to foster a share of mutual responsibility and obligations.
• This month we started talking separately with PNG and Samoa about what they envisage partnerships to look like, and what are their concerns and priorities.
• Over time, Australia will be prepared to increase its investment in these partnerships in line with commitments by partners to improve their development performances.
• A stable and prosperous Pacific region will depend on getting the economic policy fundamentals right.
• Australia is committed to working with Pacific nations on continuing reform processes that open and build robust economies in the Pacific.
• On labour mobility, as someone who has been enriched enormously by working in PNG as Dean of the Law School at the University of Papua New Guinea, I can attest to the benefits of such exchange.
• However, this is not an easy issue for the Government and we are taking time to consider and consult on all the issues.
• As I announced a few weeks ago, the Government is moving to test the demand for labour and receptiveness to a pilot program in various parts of Australia
  • we look forward to having a Pacific-wide discussion on the issue at the next Pacific Islands Forum Meeting in Niue.
• Freeing up the flow of goods and services in the region will be paramount to future economic growth
  • negotiations on the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations – known as PACER Plus – are expected to start soon.
• More open trade will be good for Pacific economies
  • we need to be clear-eyed about the problems likely to be encountered.
• Outside these more traditional areas of cooperation, the Pacific Development Partnerships will allow us to discuss some new areas of cooperation.
• On education and training we see a range of new opportunities that could be pursued, including a scholarship program, or supporting the delivery of basic education services.
• Given our shared love of sport we also intend looking for cooperation based around sporting exchanges and events.
• In setting out what we hope to achieve by working together with our Pacific neighbours it is important not to under-estimate the challenges ahead.
• Fiji is a concern.  We are working as part of a regional partnership with other Pacific nations to encourage Fiji to return to democratic rule and put aside the culture of instability that has damaged its economy, community and international reputation over the past twenty years.
• We expect Commodore Bainimarama to honour his undertaking to hold elections by March 2009 we will be maintaining pressure to hold him to that.

Conclusion

• Australia matters to the Pacific and the Pacific matters to Australia.  This is a fact of geography but it is something that we are embracing, rather than viewing as a burden.
• We want the Pacific to prosper because it is in all our interests, and those of our people, to live in a stable and economically healthy region.
• Our Government has made a fresh start in building a new relationship with our Pacific neighbours.
• We are engaging in ‘personal diplomacy’ and we are determined to learn more about our Pacific neighbours, and to better understand their cultures and their histories.
• There is no doubt that there are challenges ahead.  We are realistic about how quickly progress can be made and we need to be patient.  Pacific Development Partnerships will take time to conclude.
• But there is potential waiting to be unleashed and nations keen to carve out a better future.

Thank you.

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