Australia must confront some hard truths to make the Nakamal Agreement work

A new Lowy Institute Policy Brief warns that the Nakamal Agreement’s value will depend on whether Australia engages with the social, political and economic dimensions of the Australia–Vanuatu relationship — rather than simply using it as a vehicle for security commitments. The warning comes as Vanuatu’s cabinet approves a new version of the landmark bilateral agreement.

In the report, entitled Between backyards and nakamals: Shifting Australia–Vanuatu relations, Anna Naupa argues that Australia's growing focus on security has progressively crowded out the priorities that matter most to Vanuatu.

“Australia’s preference for securitising relations risks neglecting or, worse, disregarding other aspects of the partnership that matter deeply to Vanuatu,” Naupa writes.

“A Nakamal framework must be more than a decorative headline for Australia–Vanuatu engagement if it is to be a key tool for fostering robust, resilient diplomatic relations.”

Naupa argues that the Australian government should formally recognise the history of “blackbirding”, where thousands of islanders from Melanesia were forced to labour in Australia for low or no pay.

"Genuine and resilient bilateral relations must be underpinned by the reconciliation of a dark shared history," she writes. "The Australian government needs to do more to acknowledge this shared past to move forward into deeper bilateral relations."

Naupa also challenges Australia to implement concrete partnership policies to reflect a “family-like” approach, including acknowledging the economic contributions of ni-Vanuatu and streamlining border entry for workers, students and travellers from the country.

KEY FINDINGS

• Australia’s strategic anxiety and narrative emphasis on security “threats” in the Pacific Islands region have increasingly dominated bilateral affairs in the past decade. This has progressively reconfigured its valued development cooperation and risks a neglect of historical and contemporary reciprocal relations, which in turn can undermine diplomatic trust-building.
• Deeper Pacific literacy — particularly through a whole-of-government Australian investment in strategic empathy — can meaningfully contribute to more enduring and resilient diplomatic relations with a key Australian neighbour: Vanuatu. The anticipated Nakamal Agreement with Vanuatu offers opportunities for Australia to “think outside the box” in its statecraft, with broader lessons for regional relations.
• Leaning into an inclusive conceptualisation of the Vanuatu nakamal way — through joint crafting of a more comprehensive engagement model — will better enable the two countries to create a transformational economic partnership that responds to Vanuatu’s most pressing climate and development concerns, while alleviating Australia’s strategic anxiety.

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Andrew Griffits
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