Australia and the Pacific
Labor’s Pacific plan: ticking the economic box
Penny Wong, Australia’s new Foreign Minister, has quickly headed to the Pacific Island region inside her first week in the role. Wong’s intentions appear twofold: a counterbalance…
Fixing Australia’s failing Pacific Step-up strategy
Publicly, Australia’s Pacific Step-up aims to win friends and influence people. Behind this facade however, a core purpose is to make sure the Pacific Islands don’t embrace China,…
Climate change in the Pacific – what Australia needs to do
Australia has long claimed a special relationship with Pacific island countries as their largest regional trade, investment, security and development partner. But these same…
The Pacific Islands become collateral damage on drug superhighway
The illicit drugs trade in the Pacific Islands continues to evolve despite Covid-19 border closures. The seizure of more than 500 kilograms of cocaine in Papua New Guinea in 2020…
Interactives
The Indo-Pacific Operating System: How can America shore up the regional order?
Five essays from experts from, or based in, Southeast Asia provide a sense of the region’s complexity and the nuance with which any effort to shore up – or rebuild – regional…
Commentary
Telstra’s Digicel Pacific challenge
The deal with the government insulates the telco from financial risk. But accepting the role of Australia’s lead business ambassador in the region makes it no set-and-forget…
France-Australia: Welcome back, Your Excellency, urgent matters await
Son Excellence l’Ambassadeur,
Your return to Canberra is welcome. Rebuilding ties with Australia after the understandable hurt caused by the “stab in the back” will take time…
Pacific Step-Up needs a Covid-era reboot
Through thickly vegetated jungle paths, teams of doctors hike for hours to reach Fiji’s most remote villages. Travelling ahead of them, as reported in The…
AUKUS: France’s strategic outcry
Last week Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom announced a new security partnership (AUKUS) and, in the process, put an end to the Attack class submarine program…
Economic diplomacy: After AUKUS in trade, aid and technology
Waiting line
China is now the top export and import partner for 12 of the other 20 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group and a top one-way partner for…