Duncan Kerr (Denison, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

This gives me an opportunity in this free-ranging debate to reflect on the good fortune I have had to be appointed by the Prime Minister to the position of Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs. In our long period of opposition, the former Howard government did not follow the practice of its predecessor of having a designated minister or parliamentary secretary responsible for Pacific island relationships. In that, they cut themselves aside from the practice that had been put into place when Gareth Evans was foreign minister and who worked with his counterpart, the minister for Pacific island affairs, Gordon Bilney. As events happen and coincidence permits, I have just come from a discussion with Gordon Bilney, who is attending the parliament as one of the former members returning to take part in the ceremonial events that are occurring this evening.

But it did give me an opportunity to reflect on the 11 years where we rather lost track of our best interests in terms of our relationships with the Pacific. Indeed, by the time the Rudd government took office, we had difficult relationships not only with Fiji, where that is quite understandable, given that there has been a coup and Fiji is governed by an interim regime with a military characteristic, which we are seeking to encourage in its commitment to return to civilian rule by March 2009. I think all members of the House and the parliament as a whole and the community would wish well all those of goodwill who would come together towards that objective and to assist in facilitating the good health of the people of Fiji under a form of government that can be sustained, that removes itself from the cycle of coups that has benighted that country and where we can resume the full measure of goodwill and enthusiasm in terms of our relationship that many Australians would undoubtedly wish to see. Many Australians have good experiences of travelling to Fiji, they have experienced the hospitality of the Fijian people and they would share the concern and regret of the Australian government that, as matters currently stand, it is difficult for us to return to circumstances where the people of Fiji could have the same changed opportunities that will flow to the rest of the Pacific as a result of the approach of the Rudd government, so exemplified by the Port Moresby Declaration announced early in the term of this government by the Prime Minister.

Not only were our relationships with Fiji difficult when we came to government but also we had very strained relationships with the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and a number of other Pacific island neighbours. It was obvious that quite a deal of work needed to be undertaken to reconcile our strategic interests, and our regional interests as a good neighbour, with our election commitment to improve Australia’s standing and to increase our commitment to good governance across the whole of the Pacific. A very good start could be made because of two circumstances: firstly, the early initiative of our Prime Minister to take aside Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare on the edge of the Bali negotiations on climate change and to re-establish respectful and serious discussion with Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare about the need to restore effective relationships between our two countries; and, secondly, a change of government in the Solomon Islands, which we responded to very promptly when the new Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands visited Australia, determined to turn a new leaf in that relationship and make a fresh start.

Those events were followed by a visit to Papua New Guinea by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. He took the occasion to announce—with the full agreement and, I think, enthusiastic support of the government of Papua New Guinea—our new approach to the Pacific, which is exemplified in the partnership arrangements that we are proposing to enter into. For those who are interested in more detail, the announcement and the terms of the Port Moresby Declaration are publicly available, and they are a very useful summary of the way in which the new government intends to approach its relationships with the Pacific.

Those initiatives, and the visit of the Prime Minister to the Solomon Islands following them, have been complemented by visits by my colleague the Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, in travels with me throughout the region and to a number of Pacific island countries and, of course, by the very important delegations which have been led by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Stephen Smith. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, most significantly, led two Australian delegations: one to a meeting of Pacific Islands Forum foreign ministers in Auckland about Fiji and one to the groundbreaking Madang ministerial forum, where Australian and Papua New Guinean ministers sat down together to re-establish what had been effectively a broken relationship after a long period of difficulty.

This budget, which was announced just yesterday, gives us the opportunity to consolidate the steps forward that have been made. There is no doubt that, right throughout the Pacific, people are really reflecting on the changed approach of Australia. They are seeing Australia in a different light. They have welcomed the initiative of the Prime Minister in the Port Moresby Declaration, and we are already moving to serious discussions and negotiations on the first of what we hope will be partnership agreements with each of the Pacific island countries, beginning with two: Papua New Guinea and Samoa. Of course, simple resources do not permit parallel negotiations with each of the Pacific island countries at the same time, but we would like to move as promptly as possible to complete a schedule of negotiations across the whole of the Pacific, because what we would wish to do is to engage with our Pacific neighbours in a respectful dialogue which enables them and us to identify issues of common interest, to work through any areas where we have difficulty and then to agree to a framework which has mutual responsibilities and obligations—where we will provide substantially increased funding over the course of the coming years—and to support initiatives that are agreed by the countries that we are entering into partnership relationships with.

The aim of the exercise, of course, is to move closer to the Millennium Development Goals that all countries have signed up to and, where countries have the capacity to achieve those goals or to exceed them, to move them further in directions that enhance their development opportunities. But, as most members of this House would know, many countries of the Pacific have been falling behind rather than going ahead in their attempts to achieve the MDGs and there is a lot of work to be done. It is no easy thing to suggest that we will be able to reach the MDGs in the time frames required, but we will certainly be doing all we can to move as effectively as we can towards that objective.

The budget this year lays the foundation for implementing the government’s long-term commitments to increase Australia’s official development assistance to 0.5 per cent of gross national income by 2015-16. Australia will provide an estimated $3.7 billion in ODA in 2008-09, increasing our ratio from 0.30 per cent in 2007-08 to 0.32 per cent in 2008-09. We expect to increase Australia’s ODA levels equivalent to 0.35 per cent of GNI in 2009-10, 0.37 per cent of GNI in 2010-11 and 0.38 per cent of GNI in 2011-12—and, of course, on to the 0.5 target that we have set.

These figures represent very substantial increases in our opportunity to provide practical assistance. If we look just at the budget in PNG and the Pacific, the 2008-09 budget substantially increases funding as a first step in implementing the new partnerships for development, which I have referred to. Estimated Australian official development assistance to Papua New Guinea and the Pacific will total just under $1 billion in 2008-09, an increase of $123.4 million or 14 per cent over the 2007-08 expected outcome. That will enable increased assistance with key development challenges in the region, including basic health, education and improved governance.

I will return to three specific measures that are focused on Papua New Guinea and the Pacific but mention before I do so three other funding areas that will be increased in our overseas direct assistance which will also have direct consequences in benefits to the Pacific. There is a program designed to address clean water and sanitation. This program is not unique to the Pacific but of course can be drawn down within the Pacific. It will include an urban water and sanitation component, a rural water and sanitation component and a water security component which will extend successful partnerships in Asia and the Pacific region to better protect and manage freshwater resources. It is a crucial issue and it links of course to the climate change issue that the member for Melbourne Ports mentioned. We are acutely aware of the concerns in our region about the impacts that it will face as a result of the most recent projections of sea level change and ocean acidification and the consequences that may flow from that.

There is also a broader program to fight avoidable blindness in the region. Australia of course, through the work and leadership of Fred Hollows, has a properly deserved reputation as being willing to give generous support for dealing with avoidable blindness. In line with its pre-election commitments, the government will be investing $45 million over two years to eliminate avoidable blindness in the region.

The third area that I might mention by way of general commitments is adaptation to climate change. We will be investing $150 million over three years, with $35 million in 2008-09, to meet the high-priority climate adaptation needs of vulnerable countries in our region.

So these are very big initiatives, with substantial dollars behind them, which can link into the discussions we are having on partnerships. They will certainly be extremely welcome.

I will turn briefly to three areas specific to the Pacific region that all of my colleagues, from the Prime Minister to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, have been extremely concerned about. There will be an infrastructure facility fund. A new Pacific regional infrastructure facility will invest $127 million over four years, with $5.5 million in 2008-09, which will enable improvements in basic infrastructure services in the Pacific. The facility is intended to provide performance-linked support for basic infrastructure services in Pacific island countries, in combination with multilateral development banks and potentially other donor partners.

We are aware from our discussions at Madang that countries of the region identify infrastructure weaknesses as one of the key areas that they wish to put on the table as part of any partnership agreement. Of course, the elements that each country might advance for our consideration under a partnership arrangement will differ from country to country. One of the clear indications we have given in negotiations and discussions with the region is that we are not seeking to impose a one-size-fits-all partnership. The nature of a partnership means dialogue; it means listening to and respecting the views of the country when we are discussing their future with them and it means shaping our partnerships to respect, deal with and integrate the aspirations of those countries. But it does seem very clear, at least in the case of Papua New Guinea—and I would be very surprised if it were not the case in many of the other Pacific islands; certainly, it is true for the Solomon Islands and a number of other Pacific countries, from the preliminary discussions that I have had with them—that infrastructure is seen as one of the keys to economic development. That infrastructure fund and its capacity to integrate other donors and multilateral lending institutions seems to be a very important initiative which could build very strong outcomes.

Secondly, in relation to specific commitments, I might mention the Pacific public sector capacity program. There will be $107 million invested as part of a four-year initiative, Investing in Pacific Public Sector Capacity, with $6 million in 2008-09 to strengthen public sector administration in the Pacific. That will address a key impediment to poverty reduction by helping to improve service delivery and enable growth. The Australian government have become very aware that we need to have partners with an effective capacity to deliver—that means effective governance—and that improving public sector performance will require long-term coordinated responses to tackle institutional causes of poor performance while also providing immediate assistance to improve individual and institutional capacity in priority areas.

Working alongside partner governments, the initiative will establish strong and enduring partnerships between Australia and the region, particularly between governments and tertiary institutions. It will also systematically address public workforce development needs across the region, providing workforce development assistance to address priority organisational and individual capacity needs, especially in leadership and core skills such as administrative competencies, planning, budgetary and financial management. It will provide support for the planning and implementation of public sector reforms. I very much welcome the commitment of the government of Papua New Guinea at Madang and under the re-badged Strong in Government program a commitment to working closely with the Australian government in some arrangements at the highest level where Australian assistance will continue to be provided in strengthening government institutions’ governance in PNG.

Finally, I mention the Pacific Land Mobilisation Program which would involve $54 million invested over four years with $6.5 million in the coming year to protect customary land rights, promote economic and social development, and reduce potential for instability from land related conflicts. Everybody knows land title issues are complex and we would hope to assist in finding some effective solution that allows economic development with the least detriment and disruption possible, and that program is designed in that regard. (Time expired)

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