Page 24 - IB August 2020

COVID-19 COVID-19

COVID-19, THE PACIFIC VUVALE,

AND PACER PLUS

By Wadan Narsey their own countries, at their own expense, to facilitate the
two-way travel of persons (diplomatic and defense personnel,
In a world devastated by COVID-19, enlightened leaders seasonal labor, health nurses, and perhaps tourists) to and
throughout the world have been thinking “out of adversity from Australia.
comes opportunity”, a wise saying attributed to Benjamin The second is to give aid to Australia in the form of emer-
Franklin, among many others. Are Pacific Islands leaders doing gency nurses to help with the COVID-19 crisis in Victoria, just
so? as they did with fire fighters in the recent Australian bushfire
With tourism industries devastated globally but relatively crisis.
contained in NZ and Australia, early plans for travel bubbles These two initiatives can not only help Australia and the
have been brutally burst when COVID-19 resurged in Victoria PICs themselves, but also strengthen the Australia Pacific vu-
these last few weeks. vale concept Australian Prime Ministers have already absorbed
Pacific Governments and leaders should now be seriously in their rhetoric, but which needs to go beyond paternalistic
thinking about how they themselves can facilitate more “WIN- aid and xenophobic military cooperation.
WIN” opportunities with specific states in Australia, that can Who knows, such initiatives might even facilitate a genuine
take advantage out of the COVID-19 adversity, instead of rely- Pacer Plus, which trade negotiators have so far miserably
ing on yet more Australian and other hand-outs. failed to do.

PICs are specks in the Pacific Ocean Remember the Pacific vuvale?
For us Pacific Islanders, our Prime Ministers and govern- When Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on his last
ments loom large in our consciousness. But having lived in visit to Fiji used the term vuvale (family) to describe the
Australia for the last four years, it is abundantly clear to me restored Australia-Fiji relations, some Fijian cynics, all too
that we Pacific people and our countries are totally unimport- aware of the cumbersome visa requirements for Australia,
ant as far as Australian governments and business leaders are scoffed at the vuvale metaphor as mere political hyperbole.
concerned, especially given the markets that China, India and But Australia promised a big revised Pacific Step-Up in aid
the other giants of Asia and South East Asia can offer. and development cooperation including military assistance
The only time that the PICs matter, for a few seconds of me- and increased emphasis on seasonal employment of Pacific
dia attention, is when there is a flare-up of geostrategic fear Island labor in areas of Australian need, such as fruit picking,
in Australian think tanks, that China is outflanking Australia in a WIN WIN opportunity going beyond aid.
the Pacific. The opportunity for ni-Vanuatu worker in the Northern
Unfortunately, the usual knee jerk policy response of various Territory is only being considered because there have been
Australian governments has been the easy way for unimagina- no recorded cases of coronavirus from Vanuatu. Other Pacific
tive bureaucrats in Canberra to throw even more Australian nations are hoping they will be able to follow suit.
aid dollars to the Pacific, already too generously treated ac- Here is the challenge: how can PICs extend this travel and
cording to quite a few Australian commentators, who see far trading opportunity with Australia, given that all of Australia
more needy communities in Asia and Africa. is rightly on high alert against infected persons coming into
Unfortunately, Australian governments fail to see the value Australia and causing the explosions of infections.
of building on the real economic opportunities that have
already proven themselves as genuine sustainable, WIN-WIN Pacific COVID-Free transit zones
integration mechanisms, which could bind the PICs and their I suggest that Pacific countries consider setting up, at their
peoples so close to Australia, that Australian governments own expense, COVID-Free Zones (CFZs), to facilitate travel
need never fear being outflanked by any other superpower in between themselves and Australia, of the following important
the Pacific. groups of travelers:
Which is why I emphasise that the Pacific countries must • Australian/NZ/PIC governments and their functionaries
themselves take the initiatives to build on the few oppor- (diplomatic staff, military and aid personnel) who will
tunities that the Australian government does recognise and be travelling to and from the PICs, cleared in their home
accept, such as the use of PIC labor for seasonal work in Aus- country first.
tralia, such as mango harvesting in Northern Territory. • Tourism industry and workers (mostly female) who have
With “taking opportunity out of the COVID-19 adversity” as taken a massive hit without the kinds of welfare support
the uniting theme, I suggest the PICS consider two schemes: that Australia/NZ have provided their workers.
The first is to create COVID-Free Transit Zones (CFTZs) in • Seasonal workers in high demand in Australia/NZ (with the

24 Islands Business, August 2020