Globalisation and Governance in the Pacific Islands: State, Society and Governance in Melanesia

436 Pages·2010·2.312 MB·English

by  Firth, Stewart

GlobAlisation and Governance
in the Pacific islands

GlobAlisation and Governance
in the Pacific islands
editor: stewart firth
State, Society and Governance in Melanesia
Studies in State and Society in the Pacific, No. 1
Published by ANU E Press
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200, Australia
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://epress.anu.edu.au
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry

Globalisation and governance in the Pacific Islands.

Bibliography.
ISBN 1 920942 97 1 (pbk)
ISBN 1 920942 98 X (online)

1. Globalization - Oceania - Congresses. 2. Oceania -
Politics and government - Congresses. I. Firth, Stewart,
1944- . II. State Society and Governance in Melanesia
Project.

320.995

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Cover design by Teresa Prowse
Printed by University Printing Services, ANU
This edition © 2006 ANU E Press
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction 1
1. Keynote Address — From Neo-Liberalism to the New Medievalism
John Rapley 7
2. Treading Water in Rapids? Non-Governmental Organisations and
Resistance to Neo-Liberalism in Pacific Island States Claire Slatter 23
3. Regionalism and Cultural Identity: Putting the Pacific back into the
plan Elise Huffer 43
Labour Migration
4. Migration, Dependency and Inequality in the Pacific: Old Wine in
Bigger Bottles? (Part 1) John Connell 59
5. Migration, Dependency and Inequality in the Pacific: Old Wine in
Bigger Bottles? (Part 2) John Connell 81
6. Globalisation, New Labour Migration and Development in Fiji
Manoranjan Mohanty 107
7. ‘Tonga Only Wants Our Money’: The children of Tongan migrants
Helen Lee 121
8. Labour Mobility in the Pacific: Creating seasonal work programs
in Australia Nic Maclellan and Peter Mares 137
9. Contemporary Migration Within the Pacific Islands: The case of Fijian
skilled workers in Kiribati and Marshall Islands Avelina Rokoduru 173
Sugar and garMentS
10. Fiji: Sugar and sweatshirts, migrants and remittances Kate Hannan 189
11. End of the Line? Globalisation and Fiji’s Garment Industry
Donovan Storey 217
Corporate and State governanCe in Mining and ForeStry
12. Global Capital and Local Ownership in Solomon Islands’ Forestry
Industry Tarcisius Tara Kabutaulaka 239
13. Mining, Social Change and Corporate Social Responsibility: Drawing
lines in the Papua New Guinea mud Glenn Banks 259
14. The ‘Resource Curse’ and Governance: A Papua New Guinean
perspective Mel Togolo 275

Globalisation and Governance in the Pacific Islands
tradition, CuLture and poLitiCS
15. Keynote Address — Governance in Fiji: The interplay between
indigenous tradition, culture and politics Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi 289
16. The State of the State in Fiji: Some failings in the periphery
Vijay Naidu 297
17. Power Sharing in Fiji and New Caledonia Jon Fraenkel 317
18. More Than 20 Years of Political Stability in Samoa under the Human
Rights Protection Party Asofou So’o 349
19. Matai Titles and Modern Corruption in Samoa: Costs, expectations
and consequences for families and society A. Morgan Tuimaleali’ifano 363
Media, CiviL SoCiety and deMoCraCy
20. Keynote Address — Keeping the Information Flow Open: A key
condition for good government in Micronesia Father Francis X. Hezel 375
21. Governance, Globalisation and the PNG Media: A survival dilemma
Joe R. Kanekane 385
22. Democracy in Papua New Guinea: Challenges from a rights-based
approach Orovu Sepoe 399
23. Governance and Livelihood Realities in Solomon Islands
Morgan Wairiu 409
LiSt oF ContributorS 417
INDEX 423
i
Acknowledgements
Editing a collection of conference papers is a joint endeavour. I would like to
extend my sincere thanks to the following people for their valued assistance:
David Hegarty of the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Project at the
ANU invited me to organise the conference on which this book is based and
gave me the opportunity to edit the papers. Hank Nelson and Peter King offered
excellent critical advice. Jan Borrie copy-edited with a keen eye. Sue Rider, with
endless efficiency, supported the project administratively. Ben Marwick gave
vital technical assistance and Duncan Beard arranged final design and publication
by ANU E Press. Like all editors, I owe most to the contributors who wrote the
chapters and whose book it truly is.
vii

Introduction
Stewart Firth
The State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Project at the Australian National
University organised a conference on globalisation and governance in the Pacific
Islands in October 2005, and this volume brings together the papers delivered
by the participants, who came from Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands,
Fiji, Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Hawai’i, New Zealand and
Jamaica as well as from within Australia. The conference, held in Old Canberra
House over three days, was generously supported by funding from the Australian
Government through AusAID.
The aim of the conference was twofold.
First, we sought to explore the impact of globalising processes in the South
Pacific on regional economies and political systems. We wanted to know more
about the effect of free trade on industries such as sugar and garments in Fiji,
the consequences of ever-increasing labour migration from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji
and other Island countries and the continuing repercussions of mining and
forestry in PNG and Solomon Islands. As the Hon. Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele
Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa, has said, ‘We now live in a so-called
globalised world and our efforts to reduce or adapt to its negative impacts will
continue to test our resilience. What is clear is that globalisation, even if it does
deal an unfair hand to small island economies, is here to stay’ (AusAID, Pacific
2020: Challenges and Opportunities for Growth, Canberra 2006: 60). Given the
political conversation in the Pacific Islands about globalisation, we want to hear
all voices on the issue, critical and otherwise.
Second, we wanted to revisit key issues in the debate about good governance,
such as the role of culture and tradition in Pacific politics and the importance
of a free media. And we sought to examine the state of play in governance in
different parts of the region, in particular PNG, Solomon Islands, the FSM, Fiji
and Samoa.
Our first theme, then, is globalisation.
In one sense globalisation is not new and has affected the Pacific Islands since
outsiders first ventured there over two centuries ago. Globalisation in another
sense is a phenomenon of the past quarter-century or so. The new globalisation
can be described as accelerated incorporation into the global economy under
neo-liberal conditions, a process characterised by constantly intensifying
economic exchanges across national borders, a communications revolution that
continues to shrink the globe, and the worldwide shift by governments to
neo-liberal economic policies intended to make this globalising process possible.
1
Globalisation and Governance in the Pacific Islands
In the modern context, then, globalisation has become synonymous with
neo-liberalism in economics.
Pacific Island governments and regional institutions have embraced the
conventional wisdom that economic reform and globalisation are good for the
region. Heavily dependent on globalising aid donors, they could hardly do
otherwise. From 1997 the governments of the Pacific Islands Forum, which brings
together the independent countries of the region, began sending representatives
to annual meetings of economic ministers — the so-called Forum Economic
Ministers’ Meetings (FEMM) — who committed themselves to deregulating
economic life, minimising subsidies, privatising government enterprises, assisting
foreign investment, improving public accountability, reducing tariffs and moving
towards complete free trade. The economic policies favoured by the Asian
Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank, the World Trade Organisation (WTO)
and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) became those now enunciated by
Pacific Island countries whether they were directly connected to those institutions
or not. Like much ‘policy’ that emanates from island governments, this
commitment to reform was frequently rhetorical, designed to reassure donors
that the region should continue to receive aid, and did not always lead to
immediate change. But a process of gradual reform was set in train and has
continued ever since.
Our second theme is governance.
There seems to be no argument against good governance. Who cannot be in
favour of accountable, efficient, transparent and responsive government and
public administration apart from those who benefit from the opposite? Yet we
should remember that good governance is part of a wider globalising message
preached by aid donors and international institutions, who see good governance
as the best way to implement globalisation and the free market, and who rather
like to place the blame for failure not on global institutions but on national
shortcomings in the developing countries. And we should also reflect on the
extent to which good governance depends on Western assumptions about
individual interests and responsibilities and the virtues of democracy. That said,
few Pacific Islanders would not want their leaders to be more honest and efficient,
their services more reliable and their life chances more assured.
Before we proceed, we should remember that the life chances and economic
opportunities of Pacific Islanders differ markedly from one part of the region to
another for a number of reasons that go beyond globalisation and governance
to culture and history.
One reason is political status. Territorial status and free association protect a
minority of Pacific Islanders from the need to survive economically by
themselves. The inhabitants of territories of metropolitan states such as Guam,
the Northern Marianas and American Samoa (for the United States) and New
2