Moving the Office of the Pacific to Far North Queensland makes more strategic sense than ever

To do so it needs a regional "hub" that is as close as possible to our immediate neighbours – and especially Papua New Guinea.

And it needs over the medium term to consider where in Australia sporting teams, and other community organisations from our region can be trained and skilled. Cairns and Townsville and the north generally are ideally located, and suited, for that to happen.

No one has really assessed the potential long term damage the Covid-19 pandemic has done to our regions at the people to people level with our neighbours.

But in my view the damage already done is massive – and growing both the month. The exchange of sporting teams between Australia and the region has diminished to almost zero. To its credit the Queensland Rugby League has done an outstanding job in ensuring the PNG Hunters can again take part in the Queensland Cup this coming season.

But it has been a costly and challenging exercise for rugby league both here and in Papua New Guinea. Other sports simply lack the financial resources to resume the exchange of teams.

The business links have unquestionably suffered as well. The flow of business and trade between Australia and our neighbours has slowed, and there are few indications it will be fully revived this year, or perhaps even next year.

The growing number of Covid cases in the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Fiji, and now Kiribati presents real challenges for these small nations. Tourism, business, education and sporting links have been further setback as a result.

What Australia needs to do now is to begin planning for a new and better regional engagement when pandemic conditions allow.

Locating the Office of the Pacific closer to the region may seem to be just symbolic – but it does send a message to our neighbours that we are taking our engagement with them more seriously.

And it unquestionably sends China a message that far from abandoning our region we are stepping up our real hands on engagement with it.

Our health response in our region to the pandemic has been effective – and generally well appreciated.

But now is the time to build on that.

Locating the key agency responsible for delivering on that relationship to the region – and formulating policy on the best way to do so – closer to the region just makes good strategic sense!