Chair's Foreword

Pacific Island countries and the Pacific region have clearly and consistently articulated their strategic priorities. Evidence received during the course of the inquiry confirmed the region’s overarching call for greater efforts to address climate change—both throughout the Pacific as well as within Australia. We clearly heard the region’s compelling and long-standing calls for greater action to address the region’s immediate and existential threat from human-induced climate change. Tragically, many Pacific communities grapple daily with the threat of rising sea levels, disease, collapsing fishing stocks, lost livelihoods, and an increasing prevalence of natural disasters.

Australia is working to support these communities and the wider region. But we can and must do more.

It is vital that Australia’s development program and regional engagement responds to the priorities that the Pacific itself establishes. As such, the Australian Government’s efforts to foster Pacific-led Australian-backed solutions are welcome. Indeed, successive Australian governments have committed to ‘step-up’ support to the Pacific and have worked to foster genuine and respectful partnerships throughout the region in a range of areas. These partnerships span individual people-to-people connections through to church networks, civil society organisations, academia, national governments, as well as the region’s sophisticated regional structures.

Australia’s broad whole-of-government engagement in the Pacific is also expansive, ranging from defence and security cooperation, policing and immigration, through to sport, human rights, law reform, and a plethora of other sectors. But similarly vital to our Pacific engagement are our church networks, business connections, civil society partnerships, and academic networks that offer enormous benefits to both Australia and our Pacific partners.

These connections are enhanced by a sophisticated and growing set of mobility arrangements that span short-term pathways through to the permanent residency visa offered through the Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union. These pathways offer vital opportunities of mutual benefit for Pacific communities as well as to Australia. Opportunities nevertheless remain for minimising potential harm on the communities from which applicants apply as well as expanding these mobility pathways to new Pacific communities and countries.

In addition to calls for climate action, we clearly heard that Australia must play a greater role in supporting the region to tackle its health challenges, with an emphasis on non-communicable diseases. It was further apparent that efforts are needed to support the Pacific’s growing population of young people, whilst more support is also required to address inclusion and promote women’s rights. Also of paramount importance is the need for Australia to foster locally-led development by adapting the ways in which our international development funds are channelled.

Time and again, evidence received during this inquiry reaffirmed the strong and enduring relationships between Australia and our Pacific neighbours, in which our shared history and interlinked future was widely acknowledged. I hope this report plays some small role in further strengthening this vibrant and indispensable partnership.