RAPID FORCE PROTECTION CONFERENCE: “DEFINING THE OPPORTUNITIES” – THE VIEW FROM THE PACIFIC

Dr. Transform Aqorau

9 April, 2019, Canberra, Australia

Ladies and gentlemen, and members of the Australian Armed Forces. I am humbled, and honoured to have been asked to speak at this Conference, on “Defining the Opportunities” to give a “View of the Pacific”.

There can be many different views of the Pacific depending on who you talk to, because we are not as some people assume, necessarily a homogeneous grouping of islands, with shared national interest. I think sometimes those who look at us assume that we are challenged by the same interests and therefore we can be treated as a single, seamless regime. This might be true when you look at some of the environmental challenges that we are confronting but there are different ways in which these are affecting us and therefore in seeking to find solutions we have to be careful about how we approach the problems.

My view of the Pacific is defined by my immediate past and present environment and exposure to the region and perhaps this has slanted the way in which I perceive the challenges that might define the opportunities for rapid force intervention. I am now happily living the in the village, sacrificing a life of comfort after an international career in exchange for the peace and tranquility of the village; to retire to the sounds of the birds and the moist cover in the mornings across the stream that runs through the valley at Rakutu. I have foregone the comforts of a gas stove to depend on the forest for firewood and rain water to supply my water needs. I have like many of my peoples in the Pacific Islands gone back as it were to the land and sea from which we depend to provide for our daily needs save for the fact that I have been able to still enjoy the best of both worlds; integrating myself back into my rural community while at the same time enjoying the freedom to work and travel overseas has also allowed me to view our challenges that would perhaps be perceived differently by someone with a different experience and world view from my own.

I have been a diplomat serving my country and the region developing various international instruments to serve our interests, and an international fisheries expert struggling for the best part of the past 30 years to gain control of our tuna resources. We have the largest and healthiest tuna stocks in the world, more than all the other oceans put together. I helped put together the largest and most complex tuna fisheries management arrangement in the world, and over a period of six years as the pioneer head of this organisation was able to capitalize the value of the direct returns to the countries known as the Parties to the Nauru Agreement from US$60 million in 2010 when we started to US$470 million when I stepped down in August 2016. We use to be pawns in the power play between the rich and powerful nations when we had not et fully developed the instrument known as the Vessel Day Scheme which has transformed our fisheries. I have dealt with the Chinese, the Americans, Japanese, Koreans, Taiwanese and the major fishing States who have been in this region for the best part of the past 30 years. So, my views about the opportunities and the challenges that we face have been influenced somewhat by the attitudes displayed by those that I have confronted over the past 25 years in our endeavours to secure the rights to, and control of our tuna fisheries. 

I would like to preface my characterization of the opportunities for rapid deployment by referencing my views and perceptions of the Pacific Islands region. I am not ashamed to gloat about our Blue Pacific, the idyllic islands, beautiful blue lagoons and happy smiling faces and I would rather live in the Islands than anywhere else where our sense of community is still very strong, the family and social networks are an essential part of the social fabric of our communities, where sharing especially in the villages is still practiced, where you can hear singing and laughter, and where people greet you with a smile and hand shake. These are values and norms that money cannot buy and in spite of the limitations of resources and services that you find in the developed countries, I would rather be in the islands than to trade it for the comfort of more developed countries, but that is a personal choice that I have made and others perhaps with less inclination towards the values that some of us cherish, would rather enjoy the luxuries that you find in the more developed countries. I did say that sometimes, it would be a mistake to make sweeping generalizations about the islands but I sincerely believe that in one respect, we are have a common trait that underlies the way in which peoples live in the Pacific Islands and that is we are all challenged by the social and technological changes that are taking place at a very fast pace. We all share in common with other peoples around the world, the ability to communicate through mobile phones and social media which is having a hugely transformative effect on our societies. 

While technology has certainly impacted on the way we communicate and socialize, there are certain things that have not changed and that is the fact the Pacific is still the largest geographic feature on the planet Earth; the islands may be scattered but they represent important trade routes between Asia and America’s, they host the largest tuna fisheries in the world; the Pacific ocean currents that influence the El Nino and La Nina climatic conditions have global impact on weather patterns; and the islands are geographically dispersed providing both opportunities and challenges for trade, the protection of unique flora and fauna, and the preservation to some degree of their unique languages and cultures. When I look at the Pacifical Islands region as a Pacific islander and one now living in the village, I see a peaceful region untainted by the conflicts that you see in the other parts of the world, but I am not insensitive however to the risks that are we exposed to and would therefore see the potential for a rapid response arising in respect of three areas that I break down into the following categories.

There are what I call the existential risks arising from the mere fact of history and geography, exacerbated by the presence of two, perhaps even more military bases in the northern Pacific that would inevitably draw the region into a conflict. We are not be immune and would not be insulated from a conflict between say China, North Korea and the United States, God forbid if that were to ever happen, as we have already been the theatre of conflict during the second world war. Indeed, we have a dedicated unit in our Police Force that is wholly dedicated to detonating the ordnance left over from that conflict. I have bits and pieces that I collect from the war and indeed the trees around the area where I live have bullets stuck in them often causing the chain saw blades to be blunted. Such a conflict would obviously prompt a rapid response. As Pacific Islanders, we certainly do not want to see that and our Leaders have said as part of the Blue Pacific that we want a prosperous and peaceful region, but we are not going to pretend that we are not going to be impacted by what we see as these external conflicts that could draw our region into it by mere fact of geography. We continue to confront the legacy of the second world war, and therefore it is incumbent upon us to strive to ensure that the world remains peaceful.

Perhaps, the likelihood of a rapid response will also be promoted as we have seen by internal conflicts, and even though we failed the Bougainvilleans, the RAMSI intervention in Solomon Islands illustrates that peace and tranquility cannot be taken for granted. I remember talking to an Australian Journalist in early 1989 how we would never be able to have a conflict like the unfolding clashes in Bougainville at the time because were such peaceful, and gentle people. I was so mistaken as gentleness and humility only lasts while there is space for it to exist, and as was the case in Solomon Islands, some of the most gentle and meek grouping of people reacted with violence when they were pushed too far. This can also be said of Bougainvilleans who before their conflict on average had the highest number of graduates per capita of any of the provinces in Papua New Guinea and were amongst the most peaceful. No one at that time would ever have thought that such mild-mannered people would then have a conflict that would last longer than the second world war.

If there are lessons for us to learn that is, we can never underestimate the region and interpret what is happening by looking at the surface by not understanding the importance that Pacific Islands peoples place on land. With growing populations, tensions arising from the various conflicts that arise from the utilization of land, the growing interests from the rich natural resources, land is one of the primary drivers that prompted people to violence and resulted in the deployment of the largest intervention force - RAMSI in the region.

The vulnerabilities of the region to natural disasters are of course important and the need to urgently provide logistical support to provide disaster relief are going to prompt a rapid deployment. I think from our perspective in the region the important thing is to coordinate these operations with the local authorities and ensure that the lines of communication are clear and do not result in confusion over who has authority. The last thing that government authorities would want to see is an intervention that assumes that those with the resources can simply make things happen because they happen to have the logistical support. That may be true but operating in rural, isolated areas where there are language and cultural sensitivities requires local knowledge and that is why coordination is important. For example, in some parts of the islands there are places where males are not allowed to go as there are separate areas reserved for males and females. These are not things that you can easily pick up, but you might be able to do so if there are locals who understand the vagaries of the local customs are there. It is important that these are recognized and also acknowledged. Often times the presence of any form of military presence can be a subject of interest and curiosity amongst the Islanders, and in most cases, they will extend nothing but their hospitality that most, if not, all Pacific Islanders are well known for. I think that this cannot be taken for weakness as most of them would expect that outsiders also return their courtesy and respect as well. This is simply a mutual human virtue. As was the case with RAMSI, most Solomon Islanders welcomed the arrival of the military intervention with open arms because they were fed up with the controls that the militants had over the government. However, gradually, there were underlying tensions that arose from cultural insensitivities, and a feeling of perhaps some superiority because of the differences in resources. These interventions can also create a sense of inequity naturally arising from the differences in resource endowment, but these can always be mitigated through careful planning, coordination and above all consultation. It is safer to always ask, than to try and what can be viewed as bulldozing, and then inevitably have these cultural conflicts. 

The resources of the Australian military will increasingly be drawn into what are non-traditional military roles, and the vulnerabilities of the region to natural disasters is likely going to be the major theatre for this, but recently we also had the military support the elections last week in Solomon Islands. That may not have been a rapid deployment, but it also raises the same kinds of issues with regards to operating beyond areas that quite isolated and less exposed to outsiders. It is unlikely that the Australian Military will be drawn into an operation that involves different States in the region, but at the same time we cannot underestimate the possibility of tensions that could arise from the outcomes of the referendum in Bougainville in October. Any conflict in Bougainville would draw the two western provinces of Solomon Islands into that space just as any conflict in Solomon Islands would draw, Bougainvilleans to the conflict because even though they are politically two different countries they are geographically, culturally and ethnically the same people.

In conclusion, as an Islander we stand at the cross roads; our resources, region, our islands and our fate seems to hang in the balance by the interest of others. Our desire however is to live peacefully, meaningful independent, and resourceful lives. Our destiny, however is in our hands and we can shape the future and region that we want but we cannot do it ourselves. No man is an island, just as no birds can fly without landing somewhere. As we see the increase in resources being dedicated to the islands because of the renewed interest in the islands, we ask that they be invested well so that we can use them to also become self-reliant and have a sense of independence and security; not security for and of others, but security in all its aspects; food and human security. 

Thank you.