Government focuses on strategic shaping as DFAT drops soft-power review

Until the last decade, Australia was the pre-eminent international media voice in the South Pacific, but we’re falling behind our allies and competitors.

The Pacific Islands Forum can survive this crisis too

The recent split among member states in the Pacific Island Forum is only the latest in a litany of crisis, and certainly does not herald the end of regional cooperation.

Learning from measles to fight coronavirus

The Samoan Government learned some sobering lessons about maintaining confidence in public health during the 2019 measles epidemic which have been applied to the fight against COVID-19.

Covid-19 could bring a telehealth revolution in Fiji

The provision of flexible, adaptable and reusable hardware, software and communication tools, supervised by an suitable regulatory body, could give the people of Fiji greater access to comprehensive, high-quality online healthcare.

How the US can build cooperation in the Pacific

The United States is in the midst of a major shift in focus to the Indo-Pacific as it competes with China for global influence. This contest will affect key US priorities and require comprehensive policy engagement with Pacific island nations and other partners in the region.

China expands its island-building strategy into the Pacific

The government of Kiribati is not alone in the Pacific in falling under Chinese influence, and is in the process of handing China another unsinkable aircraft carrier as it expands its regional power.

US–China rivalry ramps up pressure on the Pacific islands

When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. As the US–China geostrategic competition intensifies, Pacific island countries find themselves caught in the middle.

Going big and bold in the South Pacific

Australia should look at big and bold projects that enhance our influence and assist Pacific nations in key areas at a time when they are sorely tested in economic, social and strategic terms.

The Pacific step-up turns four

Australia’s much vaunted South Pacific ‘step-up’ has reached its fourth birthday and it remains an ambitious work in progress.

COVID-19 and Australian aid in the Pacific

Above and beyond the COVID crisis, if Australia really wants to help the Pacific, it needs to be a global citizen. Australia can afford to increase its aid budget as aid currently represents less than one per cent of federal spending.

This is not the time for Australia to reduce its aid to PNG and the South Pacific

Australia needs to assure the people in our region that we are not neglecting them despite our own massive fiscal and economic challenges due to COVID-19.

Tough choices on COVID-19 in the Pacific

Many Pacific island countries are COVID-19-free thanks to the swift and decisive actions of governments in closing borders early and keeping them firmly shut but the danger is not over yet so there is no room for complacency.