Pacific Reflections in a Time of Change
Michael
J Peart, British High Commissioner to Fiji,
Kiribati, Nauru
and Tuvalu
1995-97
1. I
want you to picture a scene. It is 4 o’clock
in the morning with dawn just breaking over the eastern Fiji
island of Lakeba,
home of one of the country’s highest chiefly families. My wife Helena and I are
sitting on the grass with a large group of Islanders outside the bure of their
great High Chief Ratu Mara gently singing traditional songs so that their
leader will gradually awaken to the lilt of his people welcoming him on the
morn of his 75th birthday. The stars, those Pacific stars that are
so bright and large that you feel you can reach up and touch them, gradually go
out as the sun rises over the international dateline to herald another day in
that magical world of the ocean of peace. This occasion was only a few weeks
after we had arrived in Fiji
to promote British interests in the South Pacific. It remains our abiding
memory of the traditional life of the peoples of this remote region, traditions
that it is important they should retain in the face of globalisation and the
demands of the 21st Century world.
2. We
are all used to looking at a map of that world and identifying the Pacific
Ocean as a pretty big chunk of blue. But does anybody here know
its area, to the nearest10 million square kilometres? Representing some 31% of
the Earth’s surface area, it is a little over 166 million square kilometres,
just under half of the world’s total ocean surface area. It is home to the deepest
undersea point at 10,900 metres, in the Mariana Trench. That is a mighty lot of
water.
3. If
we exclude the islands of Japan
and the Philippines
and other littoral states to the west, and look at the island states of the
ocean, including New Zealand,
Papua New Guinea
and Hawaii we see a total land
area of 835,000 square kilometres, that is just half of one percent of the
ocean’s area. Take away New Zealand
and PNG and we are left with an area of 105,000 square kilometres or 0.06%.
4. I
give you these figures to bring home the almost infinitesimal smallness of the
countries we are interested in, compared to their overwhelming surroundings of
this gigantic ocean, as well as to demonstrate their remoteness. I used to
illustrate these distances by telling the FCO that our patch, with which my Mission
based in Fiji
was concerned, was the equivalent, end-to-end, of the distance from London
to Mumbai, or Bombay as it then
was. But these miniscule land areas are only one part of the story. All of
these countries have an EEZ, the sea area called an Exclusive Economic Zone
from which they are allowed to benefit. The proportion of land area to EEZ is
quite staggering for some of them, particularly the smaller far flung atoll
states. The largest EEZs are of French Polynesia 5m sq
km, which is twice the area of the Mediterranean, Kiribati
3.55m sq km and PNG 3.12m sq km. However, with only 26 sq km of land Tuvalu
has the greatest sea to land ratio of 34,615 followed by Tokelau with a ratio
of 29,000 and Pitcairn with 20,513. While I am regaling you with statistics, it
is worth considering that the PICs (the Pacific Island Countries that are
Members of the Pacific Community) control equatorial airspace from 140 degrees
E through the International Dateline to 150 degrees W – almost 20% of the total
equator – increasingly important for space rocket launches.
5. So
we can see that the majority of the smaller states are land poor but sea and
air rich. However, it is only when one can exploit resources that their
inherent wealth can be used for the benefit of the peoples who own them. It is
worth, at this stage, considering what these resources are and the limiting
factors on their exploitation. Here we can only talk about known resources and
those identified through the technology currently available as having some use.
Some 30% of the ocean bed has yet to be properly mapped through SOPACMAPS, in
which EU money has been important. Yet work to date has already produced a
wealth of resource assessments in the fields of fisheries, hydrocarbons and
minerals. British Geological Surveys are optimistic that in the longer term
some PICs could receive economic benefits from their non-fish deep-sea
resources. However the PICs are small and lack the technical expertise to
understand and develop much of this potential. Because of this naivety the PICs
are exposed to less ethical organisations. This is where strong regional
organisations well supported in scientific, technological, legal and
negotiating expertise must play an important role. The Forum Fisheries Agency
is the prime example of bringing the countries together to negotiate better
deals than the PICs could do independently. Having said that, another statistic
worth mentioning is that the PICs only retain 3 to 4% of the market value of their
fish resources captured by outside fishing vessels.
6. I
mentioned technological developments potentially throwing up new opportunities.
I came across one the other day in the form of a type of seaweed that absorbs
prodigious amounts of greenhouse gasses and converts them into oxygen. When
harvested at the end of its period as a gas exchanger, it is a rich source of
biomass energy: when blasted with superheated steam the seaweed discharges
hydrogen and carbon monoxide gasses that can be used to create a bio-fuel,
which, in turn, discharges no extra carbon dioxide when burnt. Scientists at
Mitsubishi and Tokyo University
are planning a pilot version of a farm next year. A limiting factor is the huge
sea areas required for the farms that could be 6 miles square floating
mattresses of weed. Well, we know that the PICs are rich in sea area. As well
as providing the location, I think there might be potential for the PICS to
invest in such farms themselves and then move into the fast-growing field of
carbon emissions trading. This technology has the potential to make one of the
greatest contributions to the reduction of greenhouse gas emission and
global-warming. It would be great to have such a major contribution to a global
problem coming from some of the smallest countries on Earth.
7. Let
us look at the peoples who inhabit this “Pattern of Islands” to quote a
well-known phrase. The first and most obvious fact is that there are so few of
them: excluding the developed countries of New
Zealand and Hawaii,
there are around 5.7 million, of which 3.7 million live in PNG. These small
numbers of people live in 21 countries and territories, 11 with a population
under 100,000. All of these have to have governments or administrations
requiring Governors, Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ministers, Parliamentarians,
Civil Servants, Diplomats, Local Government Officials and so on. The demand for
leaders and managers to tackle the huge problems facing small remote
communities with few resources is considerable. In most of these countries it
is only the last two generations that have had the opportunity for tertiary
education and the numbers professionally qualified are still quite small.
Without the far-sighted founders of that marvellous regional University of the
South Pacific, the number of graduates would be much much less. But a degree
from USP is only a building block; the wider experience required to make a good
manager or leader is not easy to come by. The paucity of institutions in the
region and the quality of the experience available to Pacific Islanders lead to
standards that lag well behind the norms of the developed world, standards that
are moving into greater complexity which demand higher and higher qualities.
So, it seems to me that the skill deficit will only increase unless huge
efforts are made to get high quality education and work experience for
Islanders. My colleague, Vernon Scarborough, and I tried hard to get the FCO to
fund scholarships for chiefly young Fijians at Oxford.
Wadham College,
where Ratu Mara studied, were willing to develop a one years Masters to give
Fijians a broad exposure to modern thinking and practice that would stand them
in good stead when they rose to positions of leadership back in their country.
This is what had happened to Mara himself and he had served Fiji
well in the 60s and 70s. Senior Fijians supported the idea but unfortunately we
were unable to get the necessary resources from HMG for the scholarships. The Fiji
government did not take the idea forward with their own resources, either
because they did not value it as highly as they had intimated or, more likely,
because of poor management within the government machine. The result, there is
a paucity of senior Fijians with the stature and experience to get hold of the
country and move it forward as it needs and deserves.
8. For
many years it has been obvious that regional co-operation can help to mitigate
the effects of this skill deficit. The South Pacific Commission, now the
Pacific Community was in the vanguard, having been established in 1947, well
before the EEC. I saw this body as crucial in terms of delivering day-to-day
advice and assistance over a wide range of technical and social issues and that
was why I argued so hard to get the UK back in, following its withdrawal in
1995. The warmth of the welcome for the UK
at the 1997 50th Anniversary Meeting in Canberra
showed how much this country’s presence was valued. However, I was only able to
advance the arguments I did because the institution had been rejuvenated by the
shakeout handled by the Australian, Bob Dun. The fact that the British
Government has again withdrawn is shocking and lets down all our friends in the
region.
9.
More important still is the Pacific Islands
Forum, the political body established in 1971 to bring together leaders of the
independent PICs. It is through this institution that the region’s interaction,
both economic and political, takes place. Australian and New
Zealand membership allows PIC leaders to
work jointly with their big neighbours on the most pressing of the regional
issues. But, like the SPC, the work of the Forum was held back by the
comparative weakness of the political leadership and the Secretariat. The “Pacific
Way” of consensus building is not always the most
productive avenue in the modern world of international negotiation and
competition. Another restraining factor was the unwritten rule that, like the
SPC, the leadership had to come from the PICs rather than Australia
or New Zealand.
The mould was broken by Bob Dun’s appointment to the SPC and his demonstration
to the PIC’s that a non-islander could still work for the best interests of the
island countries. So, the appointment of Australian senior diplomat and Pacific
expert (he is married to a Samoan) Greg Urwin as Secretary General of the Forum
has led to a step change in the way that issues are approached and handled. A
survey of the Forum web site demonstrates the quality of the thinking now going
on in the Forum. In a recent speech Urwin said:
“The Pacific has reached the end
of what it is probably convenient and reasonably accurate to call its immediate
post-colonial phase. In other words, that time in its history when the
institutions, methods and practices inherited from the colonial period and made
use of during the first years of political independence have come under
increasingly critical scrutiny as to their ongoing usefulness. And it seems to
me altogether unsurprising that the process, to which the reaching of such an
historical moment gives rise, should be a complex one. After all, what is
essentially going on is that people, a quite broad range of people, are trying
to redefine what it will take to run their countries into the long-term future.
I don’t think it is stretching reality to say that this analysis has
applicability even in situations where serious breakdowns have taken place,
such as Solomon Islands
and Bougainville. It is far from being a negative
process, except where it exceeds certain bounds, as in the cases I’ve mentioned
or unless you take the - to me - quite unrealistic view that we are drifting
away from some mythical past golden age. It will often be a somewhat messy
process - genuine change is like that. It may well be a sign of ongoing
political maturation and, as such, the cause for considerable optimism”
10.
Last year in Auckland, the Forum Leaders, echoing their fathers 30
years ago, adopted a vision. I quote: "Leaders believe the Pacific
region can, should and will be a region of peace, harmony, security and
economic prosperity, so that all its people can lead free and worthwhile lives.
We treasure the diversity of the Pacific and seek a future in which its
cultures, traditions and religious beliefs are valued, honoured and developed.
We seek a Pacific region that is respected for the quality of its governance, the
sustainable management of its resources, the full observance of democratic
values, and for its defence and promotion of human rights. We seek partnerships
with our neighbours and beyond to develop our knowledge, to improve our
communications and to ensure a sustainable economic existence for all”. This is a worthwhile aim for an organisation
that plays an increasingly pivotal role within the region and which provides
its diplomatic and political face to the wider world. In the political sphere,
it is certainly the case that the Forum exerted considerable influence in
respect of the situation in New Caledonia, and did so even more effectively, perhaps,
in respect of the struggle against French nuclear testing. And more recently,
the Pacific region has taken a leading role in shaping that part of the
international agenda that addresses the special problems of small-island
developing states.
11. The rapid
changes in the economic environment brought about by globalisation led to the
development of PACER and PICTA Agreements, or to give them their full titles,
the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) and the Pacific
Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA). PACER is a regional trade and
economic cooperation agreement among all Forum members, including Australia
and New Zealand.
It entered into force on 3 October
2002. PICTA is a free trade agreement, initially applying to the 14
Forum Island Countries, and it entered into force on 13 April 2003. While the PICTA is based initially
on trade in goods, consideration is already beginning within Forum Island
Countries to the possible extension of the Agreement to include trade in
services. Such a step could have obvious implications in terms of the supply of
services and the mobility of labour among PIC countries; the harmonisation of
accounting and other professional standards; and new opportunities and
challenges facing service providers.
12. In another
important field, very promising work is being done on the strengthening of
regional legislatures, this against a fairly general perception that, over the
years, regional Parliaments have been overshadowed by powerful Executives.
Forum Leaders have adopted nine principles of good leadership, as part of their
on-going focus on improving the quality of governance in member countries. Of
course, implementation is everything, which only highlights the fact that good
governance is not something to be left to government alone. It is a goal that
needs to be taken up by civil society, the public and private sector, and at
the community level. A good example of the latter is the work being done in Fiji
by PISUKI’s former Chairman, the Reverend Akuila Yabaki.
13. The coups
in Fiji in 1987
presaged a range of security problems in a number of PICs. Again the Forum has
gradually become more involved. Notable
efforts in this area include the 1992 Honiara Declaration on law enforcement
cooperation; the 1997 Aitutaki Declaration on regional security cooperation;
and the 2002 Nasonini Declaration on regional security. All have been backed by
extensive enabling measures. All of those instruments are about the
strengthening of in-country arrangements and cooperation among countries. The
2000 Biketawa Declaration is about those things too, but it goes further
because it contains guiding principles and measures for a regional response to
crises in the region. It was the Biketawa Declaration that led to the Regional
Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI). Both Biketawa and RAMSI
marked a clear shift in the Forum's attitude to serious civil crises in the
region. While Biketawa recognises, fundamentally, national sovereignty, it for
the first time outlines a series of measures that can be taken at a regional
level to help a Forum member in need of urgent assistance. There is still much
to do in Solomon Islands
but it seems that RAMSI has restored a level of public safety not enjoyed in
that country for a number of years.
14. The above
examples show that much is being done despite the poor educational and work
experience that I mentioned earlier. However, when we look more closely,
despite a reasonable performance, globally speaking, in respect of human
development indicators including GDP per capita, the general situation in many
of the islands is that of under-development and even of considerable poverty.
For those countries for which data are available, poverty rates are higher than
that which would be expected in countries with the same per capita income. Some
observers estimate that in some countries 20-30% of the population live in poverty.
In some countries up to seven times as many young people are seeking work each
year, as there are new jobs available, and in some areas, population growth
outpaces economic growth by 2 to 1. This shows that headline figures can hide
the underlying human misery. It is a great pity that our international
development policy-makers in Britain have become so Africa-focused that they have turned away
completely from bilateral involvement in the Pacific, which, in turn, has meant
a rapid diminution of effort by other UK based NGO's such as Beso and VSO who
are largely dependent on DFID's financial encouragements.
15. When I left
Fiji in 1997 I
had some reason to feel some optimism for that country, having just seen
the new Constitution ratified by Parliament and Fiji
rejoining the top table at the Commonwealth in the Edinburgh CHOGM. Fiji’s
geographical position and comparative size give it a potential leadership role
and I thought that stability in its political system might allow it to exert
that regional influence. I qualified the optimism because I had seen at first
hand how difficult it was to get most things done. I had been piggy in the
middle between Rabuka and Mara; both men wanted the same thing for Fiji
– the Constitution and the Commonwealth but there was precious little sign of
co-operation in attaining those goals. I knew that in renewing political and
legislative institutions there would be a hard row to hoe but, of course,
Speight appeared on the scene and with his activities he sought to destroy the
plough and thus the seeds of a new order were scattered over stony ground. At
least Rabuka had made some amends for his past misdeeds but I am afraid that I
found Mara less than impressive as a leader in his later years. I think he lost it in 1987 when,
so far from supporting the Governor-General in the latter's endeavours to
preserve constitutional government, he threw in his lot with the coup leader,
Rabuka. Survival
became the major issue as his thinking became increasingly muddled and ideas
confused. But by being the Paramount Chief and occupying the throne
he held up the development of a new and modern leadership. There was nobody
able to recover the situation post-Speight and put the ship of State back on
the course it had set in the heady days following the new Constitution in 1997.
It seems that today the ship is drifting still and making little progress. Those long-term
problems, land and sugar, are still in limbo and are as dependent as ever
on serious co-operation between the communities, co-operation that is hard to
spot. There is still scope for political tension, increasingly evidenced by the
hotly- debated Unity Bill. However the Commonwealth link remains
a potential source of UK and wider influence.
16. All the
more important therefore for the countries of the region to work together and
provide collective leadership. A recent review of the work of the Forum by an
Eminent Persons Group concluded, and I quote: “Success will depend on the region having a clear vision of its future
and a plan for getting there. This Review proposes both. The Vision
acknowledges both Pacific traditions and 21st century realities. It involves a
redefinition of the traditional "Pacific Way" of doing things. The plan - named here
the Pacific Plan - is intended to build on the generally successful process of
regional cooperation that has evolved during the past several decades. We
suggest a range of areas in which early progress might be made, but precisely
how far and in which direction the Plan evolves is a question for Leaders. The
bottom line is that future inter-country relationships will need to be closer
and more mutually supportive if the region is to avoid decline and
international marginalisation. Enhanced regional cooperation and integration,
and the sharing of resources of governance, are likely to be features of future
developments. New thinking about the relationships between sovereign states may
hold the key to future sustainability. The Pacific Islands Forum, as the
pre-eminent political grouping of the Pacific region, has a pivotal leadership
role in helping to ensure the Pacific Island community of states survives, prospers and
is secure. In order to carry out its role effectively in a fast-changing world,
it is imperative that the Forum reconsider its strategic role and the way it
functions. We consider that the Vision, mandate and work plan of the Forum
should be clearly defined and directly relevant to the lives of Pacific people
and their daily concerns. The Forum must be clear about its key priorities, which
we assess as economic growth, sustainable development, governance and security.
The efforts of the Forum should reflect and be guided by a strong sense of
Pacific heritage and cultural identity”.
17. I would
like to end with another quote from Greg Urwin which I believe gives reason for
optimism, my preferred state of mind. He said: “The Eminent Persons' Group
stated: "New thinking about the relationships between sovereign states may
hold the key to future sustainability". At the end of the day, one knows
in one's heart that this is so. These are a difficult set of issues for a
region that has only enjoyed its modern political independence for thirty odd
years. They are issues that will need to be worked out, thrashed out over a
protracted period. They represent a bigger issue than the Pacific Plan itself.
But in a globalised world, which, for all its undoubted benefits, often does
the smaller and more vulnerable players few obvious favours, we must, surely,
look to develop the decision-making architecture that will give us the best
chance to make our way. That's a daunting prospect in a number of ways, but in
my view, one that should be embraced, chastely perhaps at this stage, rather
than feared. From where I'm standing, it is, from the point of view of all those
concerned for the Pacific's future, no bad time to be alive”.
18. We trust
that he is right.
July 2005