The Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is the latest to add his voice to calls for the free movement of people within the Pacific. That means the call has been supported now by leaders from Samoa, Solomon Islands and Fiji. The time for debating whether this idea should be taken seriously is over...
Category - Pacific growth and regional integration
A different kind of voyage: Tony Hughes, 1936-2024
We republish this unedited obituary of Tony Hughes as a mark of respect for a person of great integrity who made a considerable contribution to the work of the Development Policy Centre, in addition to his much larger contribution to the development of Solomon Islands and the Pacific more generally...
Pacific migration in 2024: seven things to watch out for
If you want a reminder just how far Australian Pacific migration policy has come, read the 2006 Pacific Economic Bulletin article by veteran journalist and commentator Graeme Dobell, “Australia confronts its Pacific taboo: labour mobility”. Dobell began by saying that “Labour mobility is the taboo...
Pacific Predictions: A look ahead at 2024
As the new year gets underway, now is the time to look ahead to what will be significant in the Pacific islands region. Chances are this part of the world will continue to be a focus for the media and commentariat who will view what happens through their own lenses. However, more now than ever, it...
One year, three agreements: shaping thinking on regional security
It’s been a busy 12 months for security negotiators in DFAT’s Office of the Pacific. The last year...
A PNG-Australia security framework: not a treaty but solid...
On 7 December 2023, the prime ministers of Australia and Papua New Guinea signed an historic...
Australia-Tuvalu deal brings a visa-free Pacific closer
The announcement that Australia will provide 280 permanent residency visas to Tuvalu each year as...
A fully integrated Blue Pacific: our near-term ambition
This is an edited extract from Biman Prasad’s opening speech at the 2023 Pacific Update on 13 June...
Forum split: international impacts
The fracturing of Pacific regionalism after the withdrawal of five Micronesian states from the...
One-third of Pacific businesses doubt they will survive COVID-19
Pacific Trade Invest Australia (PTI) has released its Pacific Business Monitor 2020, including nine...