John Howard scores 3/3 in stormy summit of the islands

Samisoni Pareti

Cheese.. Pacific Islands Forum leaders all smiles.

Seeing how easy Helen Clark mixes with other leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum, it was clear who was the odd person in the annual hobnob of Pacific leaders.

It was John Howard who came to the summit amidst the fallout of a diplomatic storm between his government and two of its Melanesian neighbours over would-be attorney-general of the Solomon Islands, Australian citizen Julian Moti.

It was Howard too who refused point-blank to give in to island pressure to emulate its Tasman neighbour and introduce a similar temporary labour scheme for Pacific workers. And the Australian leader was the only one conspicuously absent from an island night hosted by Fiji’s Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and his wife Leba, on the final day of the leaders summit in the ballroom of the exclusive Sheraton Fiji Resort on Denarau Island, in western Fiji.

Even before his chartered Royal Australian Air Force jet touched down at nearby Nadi International Airport, Howard and his entourage, which included scores of security personnel, knew they were flying into one of the Forum’s stormy and heated sessions since its formation almost 40 years ago.

Canberra had exchanged unpleasantries with both Port Moresby and Honiara in the weeks leading to the Fiji meeting after PNG refused to handover Moti, only to help fly him out of Port Moresby in a PNG Defence Force plane to a remote airfield in the Solomons.

Fiji Army... entertaining at the Leaders Summit in Nadi.

It triggered a flurry of name calling and label throwing ranging from corrupt governments to leaders who are friends with criminals. Turning the heat further on Australia, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare, used his early arrival in Nadi to accuse Canberra of arrogance and insulting behaviour.

“It’s a real insult to me personally and someone who has known Australian people all these years and the working rapport and relations we have built,” Somare told veteran Australian journalist, Sean Dorney.

“I think this is typical of the arrogant attitude of your people, your leaders treating the people of the region with contempt.”

Somare was never asked but perhaps some of that frustration emanated from the failure of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) to side with him and his Solomon Islands counterpart Manasseh Sogavare against Howard.

What worked for Canberra was Fiji’s reluctance to play ball with the rest of MSG members. As a result, the MSG achieved little in its role as a lobbyist group in the Forum and Howard still had his way as he has always done in previous Forums.

Meeting two days before Howard’s arrival, Somare, Sogavare and Vanuatu’s Ham Lini spoke with one voice: that Australia must be scolded and its role in the regional mission in the Solomons reviewed if not reduced.

Outnumbered 3 to 1, Fiji’s Qarase—officials said—dug in. The row is a matter for the two Melanesian neighbours to resolve with Australia, he insisted, and ought not to involve other members of the MSG or the Forum.

Welcome to Fiji... PM Qarase welcomes John Howard to Fiji.

The meeting went late into that Sunday evening and in the end, according to one official, “leaders agreed to disagree” on almost all the issues discussed.

No Melanesian leader would publicly say it, but officials at their meeting said the only consensus reached was the condemnation of the police raid on Sogavare’s office in Honiara.

Even the handling of this raised questions as the initial statement released to the media contained the endorsing signatures of all Melanesian leaders except Qarase’s.

An aide angrily explained it away as insignificant in that his leader need not sign every document, whilst another said Fiji wanted some amendments to the initial statement.

“Leaders described the actions by Australian members of PPF (Participating Police Force of RAMSI) as provocative, uncalled for and unecessary,” said the MSG statement.

“These actions are certainly a serious violation of Solomon Islands’ territorial sovereignty and integrity, and are inconsistent with the UN charter on the respect for the principles of sovereignty.”

Secretary-general position

Unable to rein in its newest member, MSG leaders must have been utterly disappointed at another Fiji decision: its refusal to agree to persistent calls by Melanesia for it to submit a candidate for the position of secretary-general of the Suva-based Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. Retired Australian diplomat Greg Urwin, as the incumbent, was seeking his second and final three-year term. But having an Australian continue in the post was the last thing the MSG would like to see.

Qarase again stalled, saying while Fiji was interested in the job, the timing was not right.

“Urwin is overseeing major reforms in the secretariat, so strategically, the best time to go for the position would be afterwards,” an aide to Fiji’s Prime Minister told this magazine.

“If anything, Fiji is more interested in the Change Manager position in the secretariat, who after Urwin completes his term, stands a better chance of succeeding him.”

Qarase kept likely candidates for Change Manager at the Forum Secretariat close to his chest.

A local newspaper speculated it could be Qarase’s own top adviser, Jioji Kotobalavu, a suggestion which was quickly put to rest by the man himself.

ISLANDS BUSINESS has been reliably told however, that Fiji’s candidate is none other than Isikeli Mataitoga, currently chief executive officer of Fiji’s foreign ministry, whose minister is Kaliopate Tavola.

Both Tavola and Mataitoga would not be drawn into any discussions on the nomination. But close aides said Mataitoga, a former director of public prosecutions and solicitor-general, as well as Fiji’s former top diplomat to Australia and Brussels, is being eyed for the position.

Did Fiji opt to support the extension of Urwin’s term in return for Australia’s backing of its nomination for the change manager position at the Forum? Aides to Qarase would not go on the record to say so. But indications seemed to suggest that even if there was not a deal with Canberra, Suva was at least hopeful ustralia would return the favour “when the time comes”.

Qarase was more forthright on another issue Suva has been pestering Canberra with; wool fabric in concessionary rules of origin it is offering Fiji garment exporters.

“I spoke with Mr Howard about his government’s stance on the trade of wool fabrics,” Qarase told his own Information ministry.

“He has assured me he is going to discuss this again with his officials and I believe that is important for us not to lose hope or give up on.”

RAMSI

Because of Fiji’s position, MSG’s stand on another thorny issue with Australia, RAMSI, failed. To please Sogavare and the MSG, the Forum agreed on a review of the operations of RAMSI, while Australia’s position that RAMSI should continue “in its present form” was endorsed.

Speaking to mainly Australian journalists after the summit, Howard was smiling. “I never had any difficulty with a review because if you believe something is working well, then you will be quite happy to have it examined.

“The key thing that came through for me in the meeting is that other leaders were quite keen to keep RAMSI going.

“The idea that RAMSI would have been undermined or worst still, terminated, was not anything any of them was counting on.”

The Forum’s communique also spoke of “a consultation mechanism between the government of the Solomon Islands, RAMSI, and the Pacific Islands Forum be established, chaired by the representative of the Forum chair, and involving senior representatives of the Forum Troika of past, present and incoming chairs.”

“Leaders further agreed that pursuant to this consultation mechanism, there should be quarterly consultations; the consultative group will not be involved in operational decisions, but would act as a high level reference group and discuss the broad policy directions of RAMSI and progress achieved; and the consultative group will report quarterly to the Forum Leaders.”

Guest worker scheme

Given Australia’s vigorous opposition to a guest worker scheme for Forum islands countries and New Zealand’s decision to pilot such a programme with most probably seven not six members, one would have thought that Howard will be in for more Somare-like dressing downs.

But the only stinging reaction came from one of the Forum’s smallest members, Tuvalu.

Disappointed at Howard’s refusal to hold a one-on-one meeting with him, newly elected prime minister Apisai Ielemia said building technical colleges in the islands is not what they wanted.

“What Howard is doing is a totally different issue from the labour mobility concept,” Ielemia told ISLANDS BUSINESS.

“Helen Clark is offering exactly what we want. The offer to build technical institutes for people to train is going back to the current system they have, where they want trained people with certificates.

“But the kind of labour we are trying to export to them is those that can’t go through those very training institutions because of the level of education they have.

“That’s why we feel that what Howard is doing is totally different from what we want. Education is totally different from labour mobility.”

Ielemia believes Australia should be like New Zealand in that it ought to be more considerate of the needs of the islands.

“Australia should be more lenient with us. But the way they are doing things with all the Pacific islands countries, it’s as if they don’t like to know us.

“Like they don’t want us to come to their country, that we’ll flood their markets.”

Wellington’s scheme to offer up to seven months temporary work visas for 5000 workers from Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Tuvalu and Kiribati have been openly welcomed. All recipients, however, are mindful of the need to put in place controls to counter abuse.

“We will need in Fiji to establish some criteria for selection and I’m sure New Zealand will also have some requirements, so it’s a question of consultation between the two countries and then lay down the rules that are necessary,” Qarase told journalists.

“I think it is important from our point of view in the long-term that opportunities for abuse of such a scheme are minimised because if there’s abuse early on in the scheme, then we are likely to lose out again.”

Same sentiments were echoed by other islansd leaders, like next year’s Forum chair, Dr Fred Sevele of Tonga.

“We ourselves would have to ensure the safeguards that we put in will be such that there’s no repeat of the abuse that was seen in the early 1970s.

“I think that will be our primary concern and I think Fiji has also expressed the same concerns, that a repeat of what had happened or the abuses of the past, shouldn’t happen.”

Nauru, interestingly, was not in the original list of six countries to pilot the workers’ scheme with New Zealand. But its transport minister Dr Kieren Keke said the island republic successfully lobbied for inclusion in the scheme, offering to use its new Boeing 737 to transport workers to New Zealand.

“We think we were able to provide a transportation solution, especially from those coming from the north Pacific,” said Keke.

“For that, New Zealand has committed to include Nauru to the initial six countries to kick-start the guest worker scheme, pending Wellington’s approval of course,” said Keke.

Unmoved by Wellington’s gesture, Howard insisted allowing a similar scheme is not a government policy. Canberra instead announced it will build a string of technical colleges in Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Samoa, and headquartered in Fiji.

Qarase was amongst the first to welcome Howard’s A$150 million training package, saying while the colleges may speed up the brain-drain phenomenon in the islands, such a loss may not be a bad idea after all.

“That will happen and I think it must happen because as a country we should not stop anybody from going to any country of his or her choice,” Qarase told Fiji journalists.

“Now looking at it from another angle, it is a known fact that remittances from overseas in the form of foreign exchange has become the second largest source of foreign exchange for Fiji.

“Last year, we earned F$350 million or thereabouts in terms of foreign exchange. Without any sweat from people residing in Fiji, we received this money from overseas in terms of foreign exchange, that means the more of our people that leave Fiji and work overseas the better for us. And because they have roots in Fiji, they will continue to remit funds to Fiji.

“So when you look at it from that angle and balance it up with the loss of skills and so on, we will probably end up with a positive balance in the balance sheet.

“The thing is to keep on training.”

Tonga though disappointed that it won’t host one of the Australian-funded colleges is interested in using the college’s curriculum for its own technical institutes. Other countries, Solomon Islands particularly, would be wondering whether its on-going feud with Australia erased any chances of it hosting any of the colleges.

On the other hand, Fiji forever trying to please everyone, not only got to host the headquarters of the Australian technical colleges, but it is also one of the first recipients of New Zealand’s temporary labour scheme.

And while he’s confident Fiji may also get the coveted change manager in the Forum Secretariat, Qarase, say some observers, runs the risk of facing the brunt of the wrath of its Melanesian neighbours.

Criticisms of Fiji’s position came unsurprisingly to some from Fiji’s former prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka. Writing in his weekly column in the Sunday Times newspaper, Rabuka whose term in office saw Fiji’s inclusion in the MSG described Qarase’s comments as “a poor apology” in the name of balance.

“We should have showcased our own position as a member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group,” Rabuka wrote.

“But we preferred to be nice, forgetting that being nice may not be right. Why should we expect PNG, Vanuatu and the Solomons to support our exporters to their countries if we do not sing the same tune they are asking us to sing with them?

“We should have showcased our commitment to our Polynesian and Micronesian neighbours that we will be able to assist them better when we enjoy a stronger MSG co-operation.

“Instead, we chose to walk the tightrope, but very unconvincingly.”

It’s not known whether Howard heaved a deep sigh of relief when his RAAF jet flew into a setting sun after the Forum meeting in Nadi. But no doubt, the man will be glad with the outcome. It’s another Forum that has gone Australia’s way.

Perhaps, he will now have the time on the plane to review his scorecard of 3/3, counting his wins in the continuation of RAMSI, the re-appointment of Greg Urwin and the continuation of his no guest worker scheme. Not a bad achievement when viewed against Sogavare’s scorecard, a 1/3; just a review of RAMSI, but nil in New Zealand’s pilot labour scheme and nil in hosting any Australian technical colleges.

It was Nauru that offered the perspective on why the Forum’s smaller and poorer members should accept Australia’s domineering role in the region.

Said Dr Kieren Keke: “The reality is Australia and New Zealand are the developed partners in the Forum and they will always play a large role because of that fact. We try to have close relations with a number of developed partners and they all play varying degrees of importance in the Pacific.

“Australia’s proximity and the development status of Australia will I think mean that it will always play a very significant role in the Pacific.”