One of Fiji’s most senior political leaders has delivered a fiery speech in Canberra, stepping up his call for Australia to lift visa restrictions on Pacific Islanders, and warning that the region could become increasingly unstable unless it tackles climate and development woes.
Key points:
- Biman Prasad is pushing for visa-free travel across Pacific nations
- He says it will lead to economic benefits for Australia and consolidate its position as the Pacific’s major security partner
- He warned major powers that are building up their influence in the region not to impose development projects on the Pacific
Fiji’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Biman Prasad, who is a key coalition partner for Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, has been one of the most forceful advocates of a visa-free Pacific.
While the federal government has been moving to integrate Australia more deeply with the Pacific — most recently through its Pacific Engagement Visa and its landmark pact with Tuvalu – Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected calls for visa-free travel to Australia.
But Professor Prasad has told the Australasian Aid and International Development Conference at the Australian National University (ANU) that Australia’s Pacific labour mobility schemes and the Pacific Engagement Visa were “helpful but stopgap measures at best”.
“The next step must surely be a visa-free Pacific. That is the most basic building block for integration,” he told the conference.
Professor Prasad said that while Australian political leaders would have to decide if they wanted “broader interaction” with Pacific families, “the Pacific Islands desire for Australia to be a full and equal member of the Pacific family of nations is universal”.
“Australia’s businesses: its entrepreneurs, its students, its holy men and women, its skilled workers, its professionals and Australian families should be able to freely move and work across the vast Blue Pacific,” he said.
“So should Pacific islanders – all Pacific islanders – not some Pacific islanders.”
He also said that Australia would reap economic benefits and consolidate its position as the Pacific’s major security partner by opening up visa-free travel.
“An economically integrated Blue Pacific will arise from a foundation of visa-free movement of people,” he said.
“It cannot arise without it. Not a chance.
“And I know that economic integration inevitably means far greater security integration. We will all be more secure for it – not less.”
Regional stability at risk due to slow development
Professor Prasad also gave a bleak prognosis of the Pacific’s economic trajectory, saying while the region offered “limitless possibilities”, a recent United Nations report had highlighted that the region was failing to meet the bulk of its key development markers.
“On our current pathway, where many Island states risk being unable to secure progress against the sustainable development goals (SDG), national and regional instability can no longer be ruled out,” he said.
“The stocktake on SDG’s is a wakeup call for the region. It is a wake-up call for our development partners.”
The sustainable development goals include eradicating hunger and extreme poverty, as well as boosting health and education services and cutting carbon emissions.
Professor Prasad also railed against what he labelled “colonial concepts” in international development, saying when multilateral organisations talked about “capacity building” in countries like Fiji, his response was to “mainly cringe”.
He warned major powers intent on building up their influence in the region not to try and impose solutions or development projects on the Pacific.
“If programs are being designed for the Blue Pacific in distant capitals in Washington, Beijing, and elsewhere – stop! These programs will fail at the very start,” he said.
“The Blue Pacific alone will define; it alone will shape, and, it alone will frame its own development. This was aspirational before. This is foundational now.”
In recent years, Australia has increasingly ploughed aid money into direct budget support for Pacific Island nations, including more than $1.2 billion for Papua New Guinea since 2019, and a recent pledge of $68 million to Fiji.
Professor Prasad praised the shift, saying that direct grants were the best way to help Pacific nations deal with internal challenges, but called for the federal government to go further.
“I am glad that Australia is moving in this direction and encourage it to take deeper steps in this direction,” he told the audience.
“Today, Australia’s direct budget support stands at around 10 per cent of its total assistance. There is a long way to travel.”
He also stepped up demands from Pacific Island nations for easier access to climate finance from international organisations, saying the current systems were far too difficult and cumbersome to navigate.
“The international financial system needs fundamental transformation if the small states are to have a fighting chance. It does not need tinkering on its edges,” he said.
“I hope that Australia will use its influence to secure the fundamental reforms that are so necessary to give the world’s most vulnerable small states a fighting chance.”