Fiji concerns could mar Australia's 'new Pacific era'
Updated
Australia is starting to confront what "a new era" in relations with the South Pacific might actually mean. It is being reflected, for example, in the warmer language being used by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's government about special access to Australia for Pacific Island workers. But Canberra's promise of a more understanding tone in talking to the Pacific is colliding with deepening concerns about Fiji's military regime.
Presenter: Graeme Dobell
Speaker: Australia's Parliamentary secretary for Pacific Islands Affairs, Duncan Kerr
DOBELL: Following Kevin Rudd's visit to Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, the new Australian Government is proclaiming a turn-around in relations with the South Pacific.
KERR: The election of new governments in the region, including Australia, have provided an opportunity to see old issues from new perspectives, to consider new options and to take advantage of new openings.
DOBELL: Australia's parliamentary secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Duncan Kerr, on what he calls a new policy towards the Pacific, founded on mutual respect and understanding.
KERR: 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's 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 strength and opportunities, rather than just highlighting weaknesses and threats in the Pacific.
DOBELL: Such language gets a ready welcome in the Pacific, with critics claiming the previous Australian Government was too prone to 'megaphone diplomacy' that strained relations with Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Fiji. The problem for the Rudd Government is that it may have to reach for the same strong language if Fiji's military regime doesn't deliver on its promise to hold elections by March, next year. Mr Kerr says South Pacific Foreign Ministers will meet later this month to discuss Fiji's slow progress back to democracy.
KERR: 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 four 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.
DOBELL: That expression of concern is linked to a warning about the coup culture that is eating at Fijian politics.
KERR: 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 a 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 reputations over the past 20 years.
DOBELL: Rather than Fiji, the touchstone issue for many Pacific leaders is whether Australia will follow New Zealand's lead in giving special access for Island workers to do seasonal work such as fruit picking. Australia says Mr Rudd is ready to discuss the issue in detail when he meets other Pacific leaders at the annual summit in August.
KERR: 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 of 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.
