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Howards pacific union worries some Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Howard's Pacific Union worries some
Danya Levy
The Australian government has made a dramatic U-turn on its Pacific foreign policy and is pushing for a European-style economic union, but it will have to tread lightly to gain support from the island nations, academics warn.
Australia wants increased cooperation among Pacific states and Prime Minister John Howard used last week's Pacific Island Forum (PIF) summit to present the proposals to the region's leaders.
Under an Australia initiative, the intergovernmental body of 16 countries agreed at the Auckland meeting to establish a regional police training college in Fiji's capital Suva. Howard has also advocated the pooling of resources among the island countries to boost Pacific economies, many of which are floundering.
The prime minister handed out a confidential briefing paper to Pacific leaders in Auckland, a copy of which was obtained by Melbourne's Age, urging the establishment of a regional unit to fight transnational crime and terrorism, the formation of a regional central bank and the adoption of the Australian dollar, and the amalgamation of key services.
The change in Australia's policy toward the Pacific has come about for two main reasons strategic analyst Ellie Wainwright of the independent think tank the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said.
"Firstly, there was a feeling that since the Solomon Islands became a failing state we need to shift policy to prevent other countries going the same way," she said. "There was an awareness that the Solomon Islands was continuing to deteriorate and this presented a security challenge for Australia."
The government reversed its traditional hands-off approach to the Pacific and, at the request of the Solomon Islands government, last month led a 2,300-strong regional intervention force to restore law and order in the country.
Failing states are attractive bases for terrorism, Wainwright said. "If other countries like Indonesia and Malaysia are cracking down on terrorist operatives they will flee to where that is not occurring and the Pacific has weak security and infrastructure."
There is also a broader issue that the Pacific is vulnerable to money laundering because of the tax havens that many countries have now closed.
"Secondly, Australia's policy in the region has provided aid but expected countries to solve their own problems and that wasn't working," Wainwright said.
There is a general belief within the Pacific that increased integration is a good idea and the PIF has been examining regional cooperation for some years, she said. "But not a lot has happened. There is a feeling from Australia that this could move quicker."
However, Australia will have to handle changes slowly, with consensus and sensitivity to sovereignty, if it is to get the backing of the Pacific nations, she added.
Auckland also saw the unprecedented election of an Australian — diplomat Greg Urwin — as the PIF's next secretary general after a deadlock was broken by secret ballot.
The first election of an Australian to the top PIF top job wasn't favored by all, with Cook Islands Prime Minister and chairman of the smaller island states group Robert Woonton commenting, "The best interests of the Pacific would be served by someone from the Pacific."
Australia's proposed revamp of the Pacific and a warning by Howard that Australia's aid to the region is dependent on good governance and a commitment to stamp out corruption was not warmly received. The prime minister rejected charges Australia's increasing leadership role in the Pacific is neo-colonialism.
Howard has to back off in the face of regional resentment, Papua New Guinea's (PNG) Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare told the Age.
Corruption in the Pacific is being blown out of proportion by the Australian government, he said.
PNG will not allow Australia to oversee its government spending of aid money, Somare said. "I would not agree because Australia is contravening a sovereign state. Why don't you allow us to do our own thing, learn from our own mistakes as we go along and improve upon our mistakes."
There are a number of benefits in increased regional cooperation in the Pacific, Queensland University School of Economics senior lecturer Jon Stanford said.
"The Pacific countries are small and it's hard for them to run their own infrastructures," he said.
There is sense in a regional bank, but it will mean smaller countries will lose some control over their economies, Stanford said. "But it's not such a bad thing for a little monetary discipline to be imposed on them."
It can make governments more transparent and accountable, he said. "You would expect less extreme monetary behavior."
A regional central bank would support the idea of a common currency and fixed interest rates of exchange between countries, Stanford said. "It would promote common purpose and markets. It seems to make a great deal of sense."
But any Pacific "union" won't happen in the short term, or even in the next year, he said.
Echoing Wainwright's comments, Stanford said: "Any idea its going to be imposed won't go far." (Kyodo News)
August 21, 2003
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