The Myopia of the Pacific Islands in Australia | The diplomat

This year saw a thorough review of Chinese aid to Pacific island countries by the Australian media. The focus has been on a series of "threats" emanating from China. These include the leverage associated with Pacific island debt to China and the security and military implications of China-funded infrastructure such as port facilities.

For a region accustomed to being ignored by the Australian press, quo. Unfortunately, the development is not necessarily positive: much of the Australian media reports have come close to hysteria and may be detrimental to Australia's position in the region.

The construction coverage of the Luganville wharf in Vanuatu was particularly blatant. The claims that the Vanuatu government was in preliminary talks with China on "military accumulation" – allegations unsupported and quickly denied by the Vanuatu government – were accompanied by a series of lawsuits. articles alarmed by Chinese aid to Vanuatu. A key point was the construction of the Luganville wharf. Having been built to dock cruise ships that frequent the waters of Vanuatu, the wharf can also accommodate warships (as was the case recently when the Australian Navy unloaded relief supplies in response to a volcanic eruption at Ambae, Vanuatu)

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Alarmist reports on the wharf continued, despite criticisms from the Vanuatu government, who made it clear that the wharf has no military purpose and that Vanuatu intends to continue its long history non-alignment. The Vanuatu government has even publicly released the contract for the wharf to demonstrate that there is no debt exchange clause that could require it to abandon the wharf in case loan default (which is important considering the comparisons of Australian media with Sri Lanka's debt and equity agreement that allowed it to lease the Hambantota wharf for 99 years). For example, a recent report of "60 Minutes" – one of Australia's most popular news television programs – titled: "The Sneaky In a Poor Report, Based on selective discussions with Australian analysts with little or no knowledge of Vanuatu, "60 Minutes" has once again claimed that Vanuatu may be forced to give up control of the wharf, should he get rid of his debt – claim already discredited by the evidence shared by the Vanuatu government, and based on the idea that Vanuatu is facing a debt crisis, which the International Monetary Fund has declared not.

The Australian press has chosen to focus on non-issues, there has been no report on the issues that really matter and affect its relations with the Pacific Island States.The lukewarm response of the Australian Government to climate change is a good example e For years, Pacific Island governments have advocated for a more ambitious climate change strategy in Canberra. Not only have their demands been largely ignored, but the Australian leaders have been laughing about the impact of climate change on their Pacific neighbors. Peter Dutton, now one of the most powerful members of the Australian government, was recorded (reluctantly) in 2015 joking with the Australian prime minister of the time: "Time does not mean anything when you are about to have water on your doorstep. "

Recent media coverage of Chinese activities in the Pacific has further deteriorated Australia's position in the region.The leaders and citizens of the Pacific Islands have always been sensitive to the condescending remarks of what is happening in the Pacific. is the regional giant (the Australian population is 23 million, while that of each Pacific island nation, with the exception of Papua New Guinea, is less than 1 million). Australia and the Pacific have therefore suffered whenever Pacific Islands states were spoken of as being unable to manage their own affairs.Australian references to "our patch", l & # 39; focus on Australia's security to the exclusion of all the rest, the condescending coverage of governments and leaders of the Pacific Islands – all of this confirms the worst of Australia's vision and Australia of the Pacific, all of which serve to undermine its relations with the region.

What could Australia do differently? A more informed and less alarmist report would be a good start and would be helped by a greater media presence in the region. The decline in Australian media presence in the Pacific is well documented. Australian reports on the Luganville wharf were made remotely or relied on aerial visits to Vanuatu. The quality of the reports has undoubtedly suffered.

A better understanding of the region by Australians would also be helpful. Papua New Guinea (PNG) is Australia's closest neighbor, just 5 kilometers from Boigu Island in the Torres Strait, Australia. Yet the average Australian knows almost nothing about his northern neighbor. Educational systems in Australia are partly responsible. With the exception of a Second World War campaign involving Australians in Papua New Guinea, Australians are far more likely to learn about history at school. European Union than on that of their immediate neighbors. At the tertiary level, Pacific-focused study units are rare and remote, in contrast to the situation in New Zealand, which has long considered itself as part of the Pacific Islands

. The White Paper on Australia's foreign policy and closer relations with the region must be based on interpersonal connections. It is there that the migration policy is important. Australia's emphasis on skilled migration, coupled with strict visa requirements for Pacific Islanders, has historically prevented Pacific Islanders, and especially Melanesians, from leaving the country. 39; Australia. In the 2016 census, only 23,000 residents claimed Melanesian descent – a remarkably small number for a migrant nation, given that PNG, with a Melanesian population of about 8 million, is a former colony Australian and at his door. This contrasts with New Zealand, which has a large population of the Pacific Islands, in part because of the special migratory routes available to Pacific Islanders, such as the Samoa quota and the Pacific access category.

his commitment to the region, he must think about what more can be done to build interpersonal ties and increase Australians' understanding of the Pacific Islands. It means educating students on the Pacific Islands, devoting resources to reporting on the region, and most importantly, discussing migration policy with respect to the Pacific. One thing is certain: jumping back and forth every time the Pacific Islands governments turn to China for a piece of infrastructure is not a strategy that will win Australian friends or l ''. influence in the region.

Matthew Dornan is Deputy Director of the Development Policy Center at Australian National University.