Storm Over The Forum

A Thundercloud But No

From a special correspondent

The Seventh South Pacific Forum open ed for three days in Nauru on July 26 and was attended by leaders, or their represen tatives, from 12 Island countries. The tone of the meeting was set by Nauru’s Presi dent Hammer Deßoburt jetting in from Melbourne in an Air Nauru jet occupying the whole of the first class compartment, while Australia’s representative* Senator Robert Cotton, and his wife sat in the back in the economy compartment. New Zealand’s Prime Minister Robert Mul doon fared a little better as he flew in all the way from New Zealand in a Fokker Friendship normally used for New Zealand DCA calibration flights. Such are the ironies and contrasts of Island politics.

The Forum started its business by con sidering a PNG paper on environmental conservation which proposed a regional approach to the problem. As is often the case with such initiatives, the Forum’s South Pacific Bureau for Economic Co operation (SPEC) was asked to prepare specific recommendations for the next Forum.

On the related subject of Law of the Sea, the Forum decided to convene a meeting later in 1976 to discuss fisheries sur veillance and policing, conservation of marine resources and the establishment of 200-mile zones round Island groups. The Cook Islands Premier, Sir Albert Henry, regretted his country’s lack of control over the activities of foreign fishing vessels in Cook Islands waters, while other leaders thought perhaps of the potential economic benefit, in terms of underseas mineral wealth and fishing resources, which will obviously come to small Island countries from the 200 mile-limit.

The report of a task force established by SPEC to review the effectiveness of foreign aid in the South Pacific was well received by the Forum. The task force, which in cluded Island as well as Australian and New Zealand representatives, recommend ed, among other things, the eventual amalgamation of SPEC and SPC, perma nent migration to Australia and New Zealand from countries such as Tonga, the Gilberts, Tuvalu, Cooks and Niue, and the establishment of a new regional body to :o-ordinate aid in the region.

The report was generally critical of aid, and spoke of its tendency to worsen ex isting defects in countries, rather than remedying them, and the way it led to

more, rather than less, dependence on out side help. Recipient countries were also told to take ‘a long hard look at their inter nal social and political constraints to development’ and to set about remedying them if aid was not to worsen existing defects. More aid to the region should be

channelled through voluntary agencies

such as churches, while the whole ‘aid machine’ needed simplifying.

Regional shipping at last received the formal go-ahead when the Forum agreed to establish the Pacific Forum Line. One cynic was overheard to say that short of deferring the matter to the next Forum meeting for further study there was really no other alternative. The Line is intended to be an economic venture and will rely on operating chartered vessels on main routes. Those Island countries which have seen the Line as providing the missing links in the region’s services are obviously in for a shock.

Civil aviation, another area where there is scope for more regional co-operation, was discussed by the leaders and a report from the July meeting of the newly established South Pacific Regional Civil Aviation Council was endorsed. The report recommends investigation of regional re quirements for air services, rationalisation of routes and schedules, and identification of obstacles to the better co-ordination of regional air services.

Nauru had been hoping that the Forum would decide on some system for allocating routes to regional carriers which would replace the present bargaining between individual countries. Under the present arrangement Air Nauru is denied access to a number of lucrative routes presently served by Air Pacific. Fiji, which has no intention of seeing Air Pacific destroyed, and which is in a very strong bargaining position because of its central location, was obviously not willing to see anybody re-allocate its traffic rights.

A topic which, at first, seemed likely to be discussed and which finally was barely touched upon was the question of the Banaban people and their rights on Ocean Island and relations with the United Kingdom. At one time it seemed possible that the Banabans would address the Forum, but this was strongly resisted by the Chief Minister from the Solomons. Like a number of other subjects the Banaban issue was more the subject of debate outside the Forum than inside it.

One interesting feature of the Forum is the growing generation gap within it. On the one hand there are the elder statesmen of the islands, such as Sir Albert Henry, Prince Tuipelehake and Ralu Sir Kamisese Mara, while on the other there are newcomers such as Peter Kenilorea, the new Chief Minister ol the Solomons and Tupuola Efi, Western Samoa’s new Prime Minister. Tensions between the two groups seem inevitable as the younger leaders become increasingly intolerant of the old ways.

Looming over the Forum throughout its three-day meeting was the ‘thundercloud’ of Soviet and Chinese involvement in the South Pacific. Prime Minister Muldoon had left New Zealand saying that the Soviet and Chinese threat could dominate the Forum and leaders and observers alike wailed for the storm to break from the New Zealand leader.

Finally, it was Australia which made the running when Senator Robert Colton made a statement to the Forum about Soviet and Chinese involvement in the South Pacific.

Acknowledging that, while the two countries had quite legitimate interests in the region. Senator Colton said that Australia was nevertheless concerned about the increasing Soviet involvement in the South Pacific and where it might lead.

The Soviet Union was bound to seek to ex ploit any lealures of the situation to its own advantage and, therefore, it was im portant to study Soviet activities with great seriousness, and to be on guard against any developments which might not be in the interests of individual countries or of the region as a whole.

The development of large on-shore facilities by the USSR to serve its fishing fleets could open the way for unwelcome

longer-term developments.

Australia, Senator Cotton said, would continue its efforts to support and strengthen regional organisations such as SPC, SPEC and the South Pacific Forum and would improve and expand its aid to South Pacific countries to help them over come their economic problems. Whether the Australian statement heralds large in creases in Australian and New Zealand aid to the South Pacific remains to be seen.

Certainly to many at the Forum that must have seemed to be the logical result.