On Wednesday, senior officials from the governments of Australia and New Zealand met with the leaders from across the Pacific Islands at the virtually held Pacific Islands Forum Special Leaders Retreat to deliberate over the region’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, rather than bringing the nations together, it appears that the COVID-19 pandemic has instead created fractures in the forum, particularly between the Polynesian and Micronesian countries.
Ahead of the meeting, Scott Morrison said, “Australia’s security and prosperity is intertwined with that of the region.” To this end, he said that Australia has pledged $200 million towards the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines in the Pacific Islands, which is on top of its existing $80 million donation to Gavi’s COVAX initiative, which seeks to provide vaccine access to poorer, vulnerable, and ‘high-risk’ nations, some of which are in the Pacific. He said that the next step would be to “drive post-COVID-19 economic recovery in the region”.
New Zealand’s delegation, meanwhile, comprised of Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs Aupito William Sio. Following the meeting, Mahuta said, “The Forum plays a vital role in leading collective action on significant issues that affect us all. The health and well-being of Pacific populations and Pacific economic recovery is of utmost importance to New Zealand.”
Keeping this in mind, Mahuta remarked that New Zealand has already committed $75 million towards vaccine access for Pacific Island nations, which she said includes “purchasing, planning, and delivery”. Likewise, Minister Sio said that New Zealand will work with “Pacific member states, Australia, WHO, UNICEF, ADB, and our external partners” to “ensure [that] everyone in the Pacific has access to a safe and effective vaccine”.
The effectiveness of the Pacific Island Forum has been severely undercut by the ongoing pandemic. The bloc is currently headed by Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Meg Taylor, and was widely expected to pass the torch to the Marshall Islands’ Gerald Zackios, but a lack of meetings and discussions during these turbulent times has made it difficult to engage in meaningful dialogue that leads to a ‘consensus candidate’. Therefore, Zackios is now competing with Cook Islands PM Henry Puna, Tongan international development economist Amelia Kinahoi Siamomua, former Fijian foreign minister Ratu Inoke Kabuabola, and Solomon Islands’ Jimmie Rodgers.
Against this backdrop, the Micronesian states (comprised of Palau, Guam, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Nauru, and Kiribati) have said that they may leave the forum if they are not given the secretary-generalship. In fact, Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr said, “If we cannot honour our commitments we need to think about other alternatives, which is we need to move out of this relationship,” adding, “Those commitments are based on trust and it’s important as leaders in the Pacific to build on that trust. Once that trust is broken, maybe we need to take a different direction.”
Therefore it remains to be seen how the Micronesian states will now react, given that the Polynesian candidate from the Cook Islands, Henry Puna, was appointed as the new Secretary-General, with nine votes to Zackios’ eight, with the Polynesian and Micronesian states each siding with their own candidate.
Soon after the vote, Palau’s Whipps Jr. claimed that the organization was biased towards South Pacific countries, due to their relative proximity to Australia and New Zealand, and once again threatened to leave the bloc.
Formed in 1971, the Pacific Islands Forum is a political and economic bloc of the following 18 nations: Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
Micronesian States Threaten to Withdraw From Pacific Islands Forum Following Meeting
The Polynesian candidate from the Cook Islands, Henry Puna, was appointed as the new Secretary-General, angering the Micronesian states, who felt it was their turn to assume leadership of the bloc.
February 4, 2021
IMAGE SOURCE: MIKE LEYRAL / AFP VIA GETTY IMAGESThe effectiveness of the Pacific Island Forum has been severely undercut by the ongoing pandemic.