Page 24 - IB MAY 2017

Fisheries
Opinion
PACER-Plus

A wedgie in regional geopolitics

for them”. evolved in recent years and follows an
Some of Fiji and Papua New Guinea’s expansion by Fiji of its international
concerns about PACER Plus have, howev- relations following expulsion from the
er, been echoed by non-governmental or- Pacific Islands Forum at what some Pacific
ganisations and by a New Zealand Green leaders suggest was “Australia’s behest”
Party parliamentarian, Barry Coates, who following Fiji’s 2006 coup.
says the agreement offers only a few ben- Fiji has introduced new non-traditional
by Dennis Rounds efits for Pacific island countries. players such as Russia, China, India,

FIJI and Papua New Guinea’s exclusion Coates claims most of the gains will go Indonesia and Middle Eastern countries
from the recently concluded Pacific Agree- to New Zealand and Australia with market to the region and into its stable of inter-
ment on Closer Economic Relations, or access into Australia for many fruits and national partners.
PACER Plus, raises some interesting ques- vegetables still being denied under the In response, the “new players” have
tions about the changing geopolitics of the agreement. funded Fiji’s initiatives to establish bud-
region and whether Australia is adopting The agreement, Coates says, also lacks ding regional organisations, such as the
a divide-and-rule approach. a “long-term commitment towards visas Pacific Islands Development Forum – a
PACER Plus was meant to be an op- for seasonal labourers” – an element that concerted effort by Fiji to dilute Australia
portunity to help Pacific Islands Forum Fiji and a number of Pacific countries were and New Zealand’s dominance in the
countries benefit from enhanced regional insistent on. region’s geopolitics.
trade and economic integration. Its key The fact that Australia and New Zea- In her report, Dr Wallis argues that
objectives were to provide long-term op- land have opted to conclude the agree- Australia’s proximity to and strategic
portunity to create jobs, enhance private ment with only 12 of the Pacific Islands importance in the South Pacific make it
sector growth, raise standards of living, Forum countries and without participation imperative that Australia not be “compla-
and boost economic growth in Forum by Fiji and Papua New Guinea is viewed cent about these geopolitical challenges”.
Island Countries. with great interest around the region. “Australians, and particularly the
Another element of the agreement While the Pacific Islands Forum remains Australian Government, need to be more
was to enhance trade capacity building the pre-eminent regional political and aware of and focused on the South Pacific.
and trade development assistance to security institution, Fiji’s “selective par- Our attention to the region has peaked at
strengthen the Forum Island countries’ ticipation” in it and a greater choice by moments when the region was perceived
ability to trade. Pacific states of non-traditional external to pose an imminent potential threat.
Both, Fiji and Papua New Guinea have, partners has left PIF in somewhat of a Beyond those moments, our foreign and
over the years, expressed reservations quandary over whether it is dominated strategic policy in the region has been
about some of the objectives of the PACER and heavily influenced by Australia and characterised by unclear, inconsistent and
Plus trade agreement and in particular New Zealand. competing interests and intentions, which
whether real benefits would accrue for Fiji’s Prime Minister, Frank Bainima- has reduced its effectiveness and under-
the islanders or for Australia and New rama, has in fact vowed never to attend mined Australia’s influence. If Australia
Zealand. a Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting is going to ensure that it’s able to respond
Following eight years of negotiations, as long as Australia and New Zealand to the complex and crowded geopolitics
an agreement was reached mid-April remain a part of it. of the South Pacific, it needs to prioritise
between Australia and New Zealand on In a recently released special report, Dr the region in a clear, consistent and sus-
one side of the table and 12 Pacific Islands Joanne Wallis of the Strategic and Defence tained way in its foreign and strategic
Forum countries on the other – minus the Studies Centre at the Australian National policy planning” Dr Wallis emphasized
region’s two prominent countries, Fiji and University suggests “Australia faces an in her report.
Papua New Guinea which, together, repre- increasingly crowded and complex geopo- Fiji and Papua New Guinea’s exclusion
sent the South Pacific’s largest economies. litical environment in the South Pacific”. from the final PACR Plus negotiations
Australia’s Trade Minister, Steven She points out that Fiji and Papua begs the question: Have Australia and
Ciobo, dismissed Fiji and Papua New New Guinea in particular, are emerging New Zealand chosen to ignore warn-
Guinea’s non-inclusion in the final talks as regional powers with the potential “to ings about complacency over regional
saying they had elected not to sign the constrain Australian influence” over the geopolitics? Or, is it a calculated move to
agreement. Fiji’s Trade Minister Faizal region. drive a “diversionary wedge” in what Dr
Koya, however, argues that Fiji was in fact On the international stage and in par- Wallis describes as an already “crowded
“excluded” from the final negotiations. ticular in the United Nations, the island and complex geopolitical environment”?
New Zealand’s Trade Minister, Todd states are also moving in a direction which (Note: Dr Wallis’ Special report is
McClay, adopted a more diplomatic ap- is taking them outside of Australia’s available for viewing at: www.aspi.org.
proach by suggesting that although Fiji sphere of influence. au/publications/crowded-and-complex-
and Papua New Guinea were not present Interestingly, much of that “watering the-changing-geopolitics-of-the-south-
for the conclusion, the door “is still open down” of Australian influence has only pacific/SR103_South-Pacific.pdf)
r dennis.rounds@gmail.com

24 Islands Business, May 2017