An Opposing View

It's a change of pace for the politician, who spent much of 2005 consulting Pacific Islanders and Australians with an interest in the region over the opposition Australian Labor Party's policy note, "Towards A Pacific Community."

Bob Sercombe on the job over Auki, Solomon Islands. He says the Australian-led RAMSI mission to the Solomons was a good example of multilateral action in the Pacific, albeit a belated effort. (Photo: Courtesy Bob Sercombe)

Sercombe says the rationale for a stand alone shadow portfolio dealing with Pacific Island affairs "reflects the priority we have given these relationships… that's one difference between Labor and the more conservative approach of the government."

He says while Pacific Island leaders expect Australia to pay a leadership role, "the failure of the current government is that it has oscillated between a hands off and heavy handed role. Australia needs to find the middle ground."

Sercombe acknowledges there are examples of good Australian interventions in the region, such as the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI). But he attributes this to the fact that many countries worked together to restore peace.

"It is a genuine Pacific exercise. That's how Australia should act."

He contrasts this with the troubled Enhanced Cooperation Package with Papua New Guinea, although he is reserving judgment on the ECP Mark II.

Says Sercombe: "The proof will be in the pudding. (However) PNG has shown a commitment to regionalism, and we should always look at ways PNG can be supported as a beneficiary as well as a contributor to our region."

Sercombe says Towards a Pacific Community "is about Australia living up to its potential as a good neighbor. It is only in the Pacific that the Howard government feels like it can act like a bully." An underlying principle of the paper is "leadership in partnership."

And central to this policy is the idea of a Pacific common market, including the establishment of a labor mobility scheme from Pacific Island countries to Australia.

"There is a fundamental point the government has not been able to address in its opposition to the (labor mobilization) plan: that last year Australia admitted 100,000 backpackers through the Working Holiday Maker visa scheme, and they were overwhelmingly from rich nations, so how do we explain that to our Pacific neighbors? It's unanswerable. That's why I think in the future it will be agreed to.

"Towards a Pacific Community" includes a long, long list of possible institutions to improve regional integration.

These include a Pacific Peace and Security Center to work on "preventative democracy," a regional Women's Center, Health Center, Environment and Resource Agency, Pacific Cultural Center, Population Center, Pacific Human Rights Commission, Pacific Education Center, Children and Youth Center, Pacific Court and a Pacific Parliament. It calls for a regional commitment to inflation targeting, and assistance for countries wishing to adopt the Australian dollar.

"We're not dealing with a blank sheet of paper, we're not looking at reinventing the wheel," Sercombe says. "We've provided a set of coherent themes, and the underlying philosophy.

"We take the view that yes; there is a whole range of institutions and initiatives on the ground, but it is critically important to take a broad strategic approach.

"The Pacific Islands Forum is slowly going down that track, but we need to be more ambitious."

It's fair to say that Labor's proposals-big on vision if short on detail-were quite warmly received by the region's leaders.

Vanuatu Prime Minister Ham Lini said "Many of the issues discussed…reflect what Vanuatu is trying to achieve."

As for what Pacific Islanders can do to work towards "leadership in partnership," Sercombe had one suggestion.

"It's very important for Pacific Islanders and Pacific Island leaders to show their confidence in their own capacities and the strength of their own societies."

It is more than a year until the next Australian election. At present, Australia's Prime Minister John Howard retains a commanding lead in opinion polls, while the Labor Party struggles to overcome the legacies of its often poisonous recent leadership challenges. Nevertheless Sercombe believes the opposition has played a useful role in raising issues around Australia's relationship with the Pacific Islands region.

"Under the agenda we set we've seen increased vocational training and support, the education proposal and inroads into the job training market, as well as the labor mobility debate."

In the event Labor does win an election next year, he is also confident the Pacific Islands portfolio would continue, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Would he like the job of heading it? "I'd love it," Sercombe exclaims.