Warning for Pacific development

The promises of cheaper goods and more efficient services are doubtful but the concrete loss of government policy space to respond and shape the economic futures of the Islands for themselves is the guaranteed cost.

The region is now faced with negotiating with a mercantilist Europe as well as a neo-colonial Australia and New Zealand. Only a true believer would think that Pacific 'development' was at the heart of this.

Australia has stated that it is “not looking to foist onto such countries agreements that they find unhelpful or destabilising” and that “at what pace [PACER-Plus] proceeds and whether it actually proceeds to conclusion is very much in the hands of the Pacific countries themselves”. Such comments are directly at odds with the commercial imperative that seems to be driving negotiations.

Whilst such comments are nice, they fall too easily from the lips of experienced bureaucrats. The question is whether Australia can move beyond its current approach to the Pacific and actually listen to the many voices that are already saying that the neoliberalism present in such agreements isn't wanted in the Islands.