Greg Urwin’s Pacific

"I was born an Australian and will die that way...and I think Australia will become a very considerable country, although perhaps not in my lifetime," he says. "But a lot of my close human ties are in the Pacific region, particularly family in Samoa but also close friends in Fiji, Vanuatu. Our ties to the region are very strong. I have a strong sense of identification with the Pacific."

Urwin took up the position of Secretary General just over a year ago after a long career in the Australian civil service. His nationality caused some controversy among commentators who thought the position should be held by a Pacific Islander, although that controversy has blown over since he has been in the chair.

Urwin says he entered the public service, and more specifically the diplomatic corp "as most people did in my generation in a fit of absence of mind." After being raised in Lithgow, an industrial town in New South Wales "that had seen better days and showed me the difficulties of life" and taking history as a major at Sydney University, Urwin joined the diplomatic service. His early postings were in North America but one day he was asked to head the mission of a new post, "that was Samoa in 1972."

Urwin was 31 at the time, and said it was a great experience "running my own show." It was then that he met his eventual wife, Penny, and made his ties to the region and Samoa in particular, "even more permanent."

"In the '80s I committed myself to the region, (that is) I made a conscious decision to concentrate on the region," Urwin says, adding that at that time "it wasn't considered a particularly sexy career choice in that way.

"I am convinced this region is of fundamental importance to Australia, and I'm not sure that has always been the perception in Australia," Urwin says.

This commitment took him to postings in Suva and Vanuatu as well as shorter missions to Nauru and Solomon Islands, and a number of stints on South Pacific and other issues in Canberra. Of working for the Australian government, he says, "in my time it was like going into holy orders or the army, you assumed you were there for the duration."

Greg Urwin and his wife Penny at home. Photo: Atu Rasea

It was these experiences that led Urwin to apply, and eventually win the position of Forum Secretary General in 2003. And from the start it has been clear one of the main tasks of his tenure will be to render the so-called "Pacific Plan" into something tangible and meaningful. The Pacific Plan goes back to decisions taken by the leaders a year ago, which recommended the Forum concentrate on four core areas-economic growth, governance, sustainable development and security-and develop a new corporate plan and structure reflecting those priorities.

"Up to now the organization has been very vertical in structure, there were four divisions standing there like pillars," says Urwin. "(Yet) in terms of issues, (they are) all inherently cross cutting, so we have to work laterally across the organization."

Urwin believes it is a matter of making "the organization sufficiently fluid so we can meet new challenges." He says this will mean some new people in all areas, if not a massively expanded organization. The Secretariat's budget has been increased significantly to fund the changes, to FJ$27 million (US$16 million) for 2005.

Urwin foresees more emphasis on economic growth, including trade efforts and better integration between international and regional initiatives, plus what he calls "breaking social issues such as health, education and that generation of issues." He sees the regional trade offices in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and China playing an expanded role in this respect, particularly in their representational capacity and investment promotion, and the World Trade Organization office in Geneva as increasingly important. Five Forum members belong to the WTO, and a number of others are in the process of joining.

As for governance and security, Urwin believes the key thing is transferring "regional good intentions into national circumstances. There have been a number of good principles adopted…the translation of that to a national level is a bit on a patchy side."

"There is ambivalence in the region about the commitment to regional activity. Most countries conduct a bilateral relationship with their partners. It's a pretty bilateral world in the Pacific."

Urwin says security has a "real flavor of the month quality; every donor wants to be involved in some aspect of national security" and that the Forum is trying to discern precisely what is on offer, and of benefit, to member countries.

One place where the Forum secretariat is engaging in a very concrete manner is in Nauru, where a representative, former Nauruan Secretary to Cabinet, Chitra Jeremia, is involved in "quite a broad scope of activities." One immediate task is working with the Nauru government on aid management, because "they don't have a great deal of experience plugging into this world," something that can't be said of the Forum which solicits and receives a healthy level of development assistance. The Forum is also involved in working on government planning process and doing a legislative needs assessment. Urwin says they are concerned with the fate of workers from Kiribati and Tuvalu in Nauru, and the question of whether these people wish to be repatriated or not.

The Forum is in close contact with the Australians working with Nauru's government to unravel the country's financial situation. Urwin says "a lot of what we do will be predicated on the results of that work."

While Urwin is interested in history-he is currently reading "The Fall of Berlin" by Antony Beevor-he has limited patience for what he calls "rehashing history" when asked about the analysis of compatriot Helen Hughes of the Centre for Independent Studies. "People in Nauru seem to be in distress and in need of assistance," and Urwin says the Forum, its leaders and the region need to find appropriate ways to respond.

His philosophy does seem to be about just getting on with the job at hand. When Pacific Island Forum leaders have their annual meeting in Papua New Guinea later this year, he intends that they be presented with some "early wins" as well as a package and framework for the Pacific Plan. "We've done that to build confidence in the process. The last thing we want is for the region to sit around waiting for some grand design. We just have to get on with it."

Similarly, on the continuing jockeying for position and recognition between China and Taiwan in the region, Urwin accepts that this will be an ongoing process as countries make their own decisions. But he also says "I do have a view, that I wish that the kind of rivalries that are thrown up were not transmitted into the region, (as) it can have a destabilizing effect on the governments of the region."

The people who work, either directly or less regularly, with Urwin, made similar observations about Urwin's style to Pacific Magazine. He was variously described as a "people person," a "caring person" who makes an effort to stay in touch and genuinely engaged. They also say he has an ability to move things at his level, to push issues of importance.

Misa Telefoni, Samoa's Deputy Prime Minister, says of Urwin, "Greg is a rare human being because he has sufficient self-confidence to not feel threatened by anyone or anything. He knows the job he has to do and will do it well. As a human being, I always rate Greg by the marvellous job he has done raising his three stepsons-the Clarke boys."

A former New Zealand diplomat who recently joined the Forum Secretariat, Isabel Calvert, has had quite a bit to do with Urwin in various capacities, including when he was Australian High Commissioner based in Fiji. Calvert says he is one of the easiest people she has worked with, strong on "lateral thinking, looking for answers and thinking outside the box."

“We’re not very good regionalists in a way. What I would like to have done is plumbed the limits of what regionalism can be.” —Greg Urwin Photo: Atu Rasea

Of his own leadership style, Urwin says leaders have asked for, and he strives to keep up the closest level of contact that can be managed. "It struck me how weak the organizational contacts have been from time to time. There is no substitute to talking to people face to face. That has involved a lot of time in airplanes to some dissatisfaction on Penny's (his wife's) part."

"Inside the organization I try to be as collegial as possible…there are some good people here but in some ways the structure of the organization works against them. I try to make sure the whole organization is engaged."

Urwin says while he recognizes that it can be a "very Pacific thing" to build hierarchical structures, he believes just relying on that kind of structure can be very limiting. He says the balancing act between what is seen as tradition, and what needs to change for the sake of true regionalism, "does get back to the point of where we are at in the region. What the Pacific Plan is really saying is that we have done some things that are good at a regional level, but there is a general feeling that more needs to be done."

Urwin does believe there is a "Pacific Way" but that "we go off on a tangent when constantly making reference to it in terms of consensus decision-making," and that if decisions have to be taken as a result of a vote, "we shouldn't be too upset about it."

"Where the Pacific Way is very strong is the way of life that is conducted in the Pacific. One of the reasons I love it is the strength of contact in the Pacific, just the way people respond to one another, the sense of community within countries, the feeling I get in Samoa that people actually care."

What legacy does Urwin want to leave as a result as his time at the head of the Forum?

"We're not very good regionalists in a way. What I would like to have done is plumbed the limits of what regionalism can be.

"Are we a region because history told us we are, or because we turned out to be the left over bits? What are the real things to induce Micronesia, for example, to cooperate with benefit with Polynesia and Melanesia?" Urwin makes the point that there have to be benefits in cooperation for island nations to move beyond a superficial effort at regional linkages.

"Where I think the region is historically, there are some important choices to be made."

Urwin is in some ways a quintessential Australian of a certain generation, strongly connected to rural and industrial Australia, frank (that is, as frank as a seasoned diplomat will be in the circumstances), more interested in action then pontificating. But the Pacific is in his bones, and when he eventually retires, he expects it will be in Samoa, as a doting grandfather to his three granddaughters.

A regional colleague observes of Urwin, that he is the sort of person who "carries his own bags" and "rides in the front seat of the car". And while he would probably deny he is driving the reconditioned vehicle that is the Forum Secretariat (saying that is the role of the Forum leaders and chairman,) there is no doubt he is carefully navigating it into new territory.