Food For Thought

At the Center for Independent Studies, Senior Fellow Wolfgang Kasper believes all overseas aid should be tied to stringent conditions of corruption control. Ben Scott at the Lowy Institute says Papua New Guinea needs to be "re-imagined" through national consultations.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)'s Elsina Wainwright says of Australian engagement in the Solomon Islands, "addressing corruption, rebuilding institutions, and reviving the Solomon Islands economy are all difficult tasks, which will take a considerable number of years to complete." Then there is the Institute of Public Affairs, the Center for International Economics, the Center for Democratic Institutions, issue-based non government organizations, and international institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, which in late January announced a plan to establish "regional knowledge hubs."

These international organizations and Australian think tanks have taken center stage in the public debate on Australia's relationship with the Pacific Islands AusAID Senior Associate (PNG and the Pacific) Charles Tapp says the evolution of Lowy, APSI and others is "very good, and we hope there is going to be much more interest and academic and research engagement and linkages between Australian institutions and the region." He says the government does take the views and perspectives of these organizations into account when formulating policy.

Australian Labor Party shadow minister for Pacific Island Affairs, Bob Sercombe, says the ASPI report on Solomon Islands "is widely regarded as being a contributor to the change in the Australian government's approach…just before the intervention." But he says others such as the Center for Independent Studies present "a theoretical and ideological position that doesn't seem to be given a great deal of weight, even by a conservative government in Australia."

Pacific Islands Trade And Investment Commission Director Aivu Tauvasa says more Pacific Islanders should be involved in these think tanks "from both the government and business sectors, so there is a greater mix of dialogue, a greater mix of ideas and more opportunities for solid, substantive, doable options."

Most of the think tanks named above are clear about their vision and mission being Australian-centric. And that makes perfect sense as advisors and contributors to the debate on how Australia uses its aid dollars in our region. Several do collaborate with Pacific Island based academics and experts.

But in the islands themselves, they also carry influence, and too often the response is an outraged emotional one from our government spokespeople, rather than a well argued, nuanced one from Pacific Island thinkers-and by that I mean not only politicians and academics but businesspeople, community workers, traditional leaders, churches-the list goes on..

It's not that Pacific Island think tanks--to use the term loosely--don't exist. There is of course Epeli Hau'ofa's paper and thinking in "Our Sea Of Islands," which presents a vision of a region united by the ocean. We have the Micronesian Seminar, which for 30 years has been "stimulating people to reflect on current issues in their societies," and faith-based institutions in Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

PNG's Institute for National Affairs is also a vocal and influential voice in that country. Sitiveni Halapua at the East-West Center continues to posit and practice new (albeit based on traditional) approaches of engagement and discussion in the region.

Many of these local and regional organizations are focused on doing, on putting their philosophies into practice, rather than just talking about them. The need is not for more institutions or more structure. But the challenge for all of us is to play a greater, louder, more confident, more united role in presenting real options for development, to look beyond our national boundaries, and to move that discussion out of university seminar rooms. If it is good enough for a whole industry of Australian experts-some of whom have spent little time experiencing the very environments they have such firmly held views upon-it should be good enough for Pacific Islanders.