Australia should establish and fund a centre for parliamentary democracy in the Pacific

The hysterical reaction from the Solomons Island Prime Minister to an eminently reasonable proposal by Foreign Minister Penny Wong to fund parliamentary elections next year proves to me that we need to toughen up the need for parliamentary democracy in our region.

Whether we link development assistance to the maintenance of democracy or provide incentives to strengthen it, the issue is that democracy is under threat in at least one country, the Solomon Islands. And others, under the influence of China, may be tempted to follow.

The proposal by Minister Wong corrects a recent bad policy decision to help fund the Pacific Games in the SI next year - even though China is already funding just about all the infrastructure associated with the Games. The Games are a lost cause - China will influence them lock stock and barrel.

What is disappointing is the response from the federal opposition to the Minister's announcement. The Opposition appears to have learnt zero from its regional policy failures when it comes to our region.

To attack the Minister for releasing details of her offer before the SI replied to it defies comprehension.

When it comes to Sogavare we are dealing with a tin pot stooge of the People's Republic of China.

It may well be, and reasonably, that the Minister announced the offer to try and put pressure on Sogavare to accept it.

Why Simon Birmingham chose to attack the Minister for being discourteous to Sogavare just defies comprehension.

What the SI reaction simply confirms is that it has no intention to hold parliamentary elections when they are due next year. It is as straight forward as that.

We should not be cowed by Sogavare's erratic response to an offer that was simply designed to help the SI honour the national constitution and hold elections when they are due.

We can be assured absolutely that China would be discouraging Sogavare from holding elections when the China influence over the government and the economy would be the number one issue.

This experience brings to mind a proposal I have been exploring for some time.