Byron Clark, Fightback coordinating editor

Richard Maru

Papua New Guinea (PNG) looks likely to pull out of the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER), the trade agreement between Australia, New Zealand and the island nations of the Pacific. This comes as the latest round of talks for ‘PACER Plus’ a new pact aiming to replace the current PACER agreement, have failed to secure key demands of Pacific nations, such as labour mobility in the region.

PNG Trade Minister Richard Maru has stated he would prefer to focus on strengthening the Melanesian Spearhead Group Trade Agreement, a sub-regional preferential trade agreement which includes PNG, Vanuatu, The Solomon Islands and Fiji. Excluding Australia and New Zealand the MSG bloc includes over 90% of the Pacific population.

Maru has described the PACER agreement as “a waste of time”

“Right now if we enter into such an arrangement it will be one sided all the goods will be coming from Australia and New Zealand into the Pacific market. At the moment we are not really doing much trading with Australia and New Zealand. We can’t even sell taro there, we have no capacity to sell our greens it’s all one sided traffic so what’s the point of going into a trading arrangement with Australia and New Zealand”.

Other Pacific leaders sympathise with PNG’s position. Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Gordon Darcy Lilo said “I don’t blame them for saying that… there is potential for much more meaningful trade cooperation within the Melanesian sub-regions of the Pacific”.  Fijian Minister for Trade Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum, told Radio Australia that Fiji sees a lot of merit in PNG’s position. Khaiyum has also spoken of the need to re-examine the Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA) which includes Polynesia and Micronesia.

Adam Wolfenden & Maureen Penjueli of the Pacific Action Network on Globalisation (PANG) have suggested the Pacific region look to overseas examples such as The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) a trade agreement set up in South America by Venezuela under Hugo Chavez as an attempt at regional economic integration based on a vision of social welfare, bartering and mutual economic aid.

“Instead of pitting the countries against each other like PACER-Plus would, ALBA looks at ways that countries can help each other in the spirit of solidarity with guaranteed benefits for all those who participate…[A] far cry from what is currently on the table…PNG is right to want to walk away from PACER-Plus,”

The aims of the MSG trade agreement are not dissimilar to those of ALBA, the preamble for the agreement mentions “the overriding need to foster, accelerate and encourage the economic and social development of [Melanesian] States in order to improve the living standards of their peoples” and states that “the promotion of harmonious economic development … calls for effective economic cooperation”

This is unsurprising given one of the founding members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group was Walter Lini, the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Vanuatu, an advocate of “Melanesian socialism” who believed that the principles of socialism were inherently compatible with  Melanesian societies and customs.

Australian and New Zealand business interests, which have often used the Pacific region as a market for goods and a source of cheap labour, will likely be at odds with this growing regionalism in Melanesia, led by Papua New Guinea, a nation which has in recent years gained more control over its natural resources following decades of colonial and post-colonial exploitation. The people of the Pacific however are likely to benefit.

“Papua New Guinea is not boasting about its richness over the world in their resource abundance that they have.” Gordon Lilo told Radio Australia, “It is all about sharing the fortunes that they have for the development of a broader Melanesian region. And that is what we are getting out of it, a region that is committed to human development, and expansion of the space and the environment between the Melanesian region for all of our citizen to be able to prosper.”

by Byron Clark

On March 15 protests took place in Auckland and Wellington against police brutality and torture in Fiji. While allegations of torture have cropped up in Fiji since the coup that put Bainimarama in power, the latest outcry follows the leaking of video depicting two handcuffed men being beaten by plain clothes police.

An editorial in the Fiji Times described the video as“[D]isturbing and shocking. It is gross, painful and will leave an indelible impression on all those who have witnessed it.” The father of one of the victims, Vueti Sanawa, a retired military officer said that in all his life as a soldier in the Middle East, he had never come across any torture such as that he witnessed of his son.

Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation, something Fiji’s ministry of information has promised. Justice seems unlikely though when Bainimarama has stated “I will stick by my men, by the police officers or anyone else that might be named in this investigation. We cannot discard them just because they’ve done their duty in looking after the security of this nation and making sure we sleep peacefully at night”

New Zealand political parties across the spectrum have been quick to join the condemnation of Fiji, a motion in parliament to do so was passed without dissent. While in and of its self this is a positive thing, it demonstrates the hypocrisy of many New Zealand politicians. When it comes to police brutality happening in neighbouring countries, latest Corruption and Crime Commission figures in Australia show that police brutality is increasing, up from 175 complaints in 2007 to of 201 complaints in 2012.

Police brutality in Australia is often directed at indigenous communities. Recently brutality at Sydney Mardi Gras drew parallel community protests in Sydney and Wellington (Aotearoa/NZ).

Amnesty International has noted another area where abuses in Australia are covertly tolerated by the government of Aotearoa/NZ, specifically the deal struck on asylum seekers;

“Amnesty International thinks that this move shows that another country is down the wrong path of refugee policy, and is taking these steps to deter refugees from seeking protection, rather than living up to its obligations under the Refugee Convention.” Amnesty International spokesperson Alex Paliaro told media.

Parliamentary censure of abuses is applied selectively, and has more to do with New Zealand’s imperialist interests – be it trade or military alliances – than it does with “human rights.”

Samson Faisi

Byron Clark
While Christchurch teachers planned their strike against school closures and the imposition of charter schools (later called off and replaced with a rally) 9,000 teachers in the Solomon islands took part in industrial action seeking unpaid wages.

Last year the government promised to increase teacher salaries with back pay for 2012, yet the required extra funding was not included in the 2013 budget- though money was allocated to give members of parliament a pay rise.

“It seems that there’s always money for them, but when it comes to these legitimate claims by unions, whether it be teachers, nurses, doctors or lawyers, they say they don’t have money for that.” Solomon Islands National Teachers Association (SINTA) president Sampson Faisi told Radio Australia

SINTA members went on strike indefinitely. Their industrial action was illegal, with the Trade Disputes Panel (TDP) ruling that teachers should call off the strike. Donald Marahari, legal counsel for the union, told media that members were aware of this but had decided to strike anyway.

Teachers risked six months imprisonment and large fines. Attorney General Billy Titiulu also stated that teachers involved in the strike would be denied benefits after they retire.

Teachers from the provinces converged on the capital Honiara, wearing red to show solidarity. “Unlike previous teacher strikes where there were differences, this one has seen a strong solidarity amongst teachers.” Faisi told the Solomon Star News.

Parents supported the strike and many of them turned out at the protest. One of those in attendance, Richard Watekari, said that as parents, they feel the teachers have the right to stand their ground.

It took just one week for the government to give in. After two days of intensive negotiations a consent order was signed stating that the government would fulfil its promises to the teachers and settle all outstanding claims. The agreement also ensured no teachers participating in the industrial action would be penalised.