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| Prime Minister Scott Morrison, then the treasurer, used a lump of coal to make a point in Parliament in 2017. (ABC News: Nick Haggarty) |
His three days in Vanuatu and Fiji were long overdue. Mr Morrison has candidly confessed Australia has taken the region for granted. This was the first time an Australian prime minister had visited the region other than for a forum of regional leaders since John Howard.
Mr Morrison's visit, which follows a trip to Papua New Guinea last year where he announced a naval base on Manus Island, reflected a new awareness of the need to counterbalance China's growing influence in the region.
The visit was not only diplomatically and symbolically
significant. Mr Morrison and his counterparts announced a range of
cooperative projects, overwhelmingly funded by Australia, on
infrastructure, migration, border protection, military capacity, sport,
economics and more.
But while Mr Morrison's gesture in showing the flag was welcome, his trip was marred by a lack of leadership on the region’s biggest issue, global warming – which poses an existential threat through rising sea levels and the increased frequency of catastrophic weather events.
Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said last week: ‘‘We cannot imagine how the interests of any single industry can be placed above the welfare of Pacific peoples and vulnerable people in the world over.’’
But while Mr Morrison's gesture in showing the flag was welcome, his trip was marred by a lack of leadership on the region’s biggest issue, global warming – which poses an existential threat through rising sea levels and the increased frequency of catastrophic weather events.
Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said last week: ‘‘We cannot imagine how the interests of any single industry can be placed above the welfare of Pacific peoples and vulnerable people in the world over.’’
Mr
Bainimarama is usually on the receiving end of lectures about human
rights from Australia. His galling reproach is a sign that Australia's
lack of action on climate change is hurting our standing in the region
and allowing China to take the moral high ground, however unfairly.
China has been funding infrastructure in Pacific nations, in what many analysts see as a bid to use debt-entrapment to gain sway, as part of its global One Belt One Road trade and infrastructure program.
Its illegal decision to build a military base on artificial islands in the South China Sea, threatening freedom of navigation in one of the most critical shipping routes, raises questions about its intentions in the Pacific, too.
China has been funding infrastructure in Pacific nations, in what many analysts see as a bid to use debt-entrapment to gain sway, as part of its global One Belt One Road trade and infrastructure program.
Its illegal decision to build a military base on artificial islands in the South China Sea, threatening freedom of navigation in one of the most critical shipping routes, raises questions about its intentions in the Pacific, too.
From
an Australian point of view, Mr Morrison’s trip, which follows the
establishment of a $2 billion regional development fund by his
government, a move supported by Labor, can but be seen in this Chinese
context.
Australia should not treat China, its largest trading partner, as an enemy and it can look to partner with China where it can in development programs in the Pacific region. But Australia should ensure that China does not replace us as the crucial player in the region.
Yet the Pacific nations understand only too well that Mr Morrison has abandoned any pretence of a national climate policy. His frequent claim that Australia can hit the emissions reductions required under the Paris treaty "at a canter" is dubious.
Australia should not treat China, its largest trading partner, as an enemy and it can look to partner with China where it can in development programs in the Pacific region. But Australia should ensure that China does not replace us as the crucial player in the region.
For
the Pacific nations whose low lying islands could disappear beneath the
waves, Australia is letting the region down through insufficiently
robust policies to cut carbon emissions.
Mr Morrison assured Mr
Bainimarama he was pursuing "sensible, achievable policies" to meet
Australia's commitments under the Paris climate treaty and will, in the
meantime, be funding projects to protect the island nations from the
effects of global warming.Yet the Pacific nations understand only too well that Mr Morrison has abandoned any pretence of a national climate policy. His frequent claim that Australia can hit the emissions reductions required under the Paris treaty "at a canter" is dubious.
Australia's
carbon emissions are, in fact, growing and unless something is done it
will be almost impossible to reach the Paris target of a 26-28 per cent
reduction below 2005 levels by 2030. This they already know in the
Pacific.
Links
Fiji PM tells Scott Morrison 'Australian coal is killing the pacific'
- What wasn't said on Pacific trip spoke volumes
- PM Morrison Says Australia Climate Target To Remain Unchanged, Despite Fiji's Criticism
- Climate Change Is 'No Laughing Matter', Fiji's PM Frank Bainimarama Tells Australia During Scott Morrison's Pacific Trip
- Pacific Nations Under Climate Threat Urge Australia To Abandon Coal Within 12 Years
- Australia Only Nation To Join US At Pro-Coal Event At COP24 Climate Talks
- Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga Says Australia's Climate Change Inaction Undermines Its 'Pacific Pivot'
- Vanuatu Says It May Sue Fossil Fuel Companies And Other Countries Over Climate Change
- Indigenous Poets Read Urgent Climate Message On A Melting Glacier
- Climate Change: Nauru’s Life On The Frontlines
- ‘Not Happy’: Australia Must Act On Climate, Says Former Kiribati Leader
