Australia: Pacific military thug

By overriding and ignoring simmering resentment among Pacific Island 
States, Australia and New Zealand (with the US standing in the wings) 
forced the re-colonisation of the whole of the region a big step forward. 
An Australian diplomat was imposed as the Secretary-General of the Pacific 
Island Forum last week when it convened in Auckland.

Mr Greg Urwin was "elected" after five rounds of voting although the normal 
practice of the Forum has been to appoint a Pacific Islander by consensus. 
Howard broke this method and insisted on a voting procedure which gave the 
Australian Government the opportunity to threaten Pacific Island states 
that if they did not agree with Australian proposals for "reform" they 
would not receive aid funds.

Howard told delegates that Australia would hold back aid from those states 
that did not fight "crime and corruption". The reference to "crime and 
corruption" is a fagade, to provide an excuse for imposing financial 
penalties (or worse) on those governments that do not carry out the 
economic and social policies demanded by the Australian and New Zealand 
Governments.

Australia is now playing the role of Pacific thug in the name of the 
corporations that wish to seize the land and natural resources of the 
Island states.

"Pack a stronger wallop"

Howard declared after his "victory" that the Pacific Islands Forum would 
now "pack a stronger wallop". It is the Pacific Island states that are 
going to feel the force of this "wallop" and it is primarily Australia that 
is going to administer it.

A taste of what is now intended for all other Pacific Island states is the 
occupation of the Solomon Islands by predominantly Australian military and 
police forces and the takeover of the judicial, financial and other 
government departments by persons appointed by the Australian Government

Already the Solomon Island's police are commanded by a British Police 
Commissioner with an Australian as his Deputy. They are being backed up by 
about 2000 heavily armed, mainly Australian troops. They are to retain 
their arms while all Solomon Islanders are being disarmed.

Arrogantly strutting the stage at the Forum, Howard claimed that Mr Urwin 
was "not a blow-in from Canberra" but had been a lifelong (Australian) 
diplomat in the Pacific region. None-the-less he is going to be instructed 
to carry out the "reforms" imposed on the Forum by the Australian 
Government and will carry out policies that are in the interests of the 
Australian Government while protecting the vested interests of Australian, 
US and other transnational corporations.

Although the "reforms" are not spelt out in any detail by the daily 
newspapers and are said to concern the Pacific Island states pooling their 
resources even to the point of establishing a European Union type body, the 
immediate emphasis is on the creation of a "rapid multilateral" force of 
police and military to "fight regional instability".

US applause

The "pre-emptive" strike against the Solomon Islands drew the immediate 
applause of the US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, who visited 
Australia last week. He said Australia's action "speaks a very hopeful 
vision for the region. I think it's very commendable and from the top to 
bottom of the US Government we're in admiration for the stand-up efforts of 
the Australian Armed Forces and the Government."

Invoking the theory of the "failed states" Armitage said, "You see trouble, 
you've realised, just as we have realised, that any failed states can reach 
out and touch us badly."

In a clear warning to other Pacific Island states in the region Armitage 
went on to say that "We know that there are difficult situations in Papua 
New Guinea, Nauru from time to time has been troublesome, so big or small 
there are potential trouble areas.

"Australians are clearly the lead nation in terms of assistance to Papua 
New Guinea but the United States is, I hope, a close second and we'll 
continue to work closely with Australia following Australia's lead to try 
to bring about a better future for Papua New Guinea."

New Zealand's Labor Government fell in behind the policies of the 
Australian Government indicating that there are no policy differences 
between the NZ Labor leader and the extreme conservatism of Howard.

Another indication that repression of any opposition to Australian and New 
Zealand policies is now the order of the day was the refusal of the New 
Zealand Government to give media accreditation to attend the Forum to the 
Pacific News Bulletin. The Bulletin is a monthly publication 
owned by 120 member organisations of the Nuclear Free and Independent 
Pacific Movement from 33 countries within the Pacific region.

The Director of the Bulletin, Motarilavoa Hilda Lini said, "New 
Zealand is playing double standards by talking about the importance of 
media freedom and civil society participation and at the same time closing 
the door to the Pacific News Bulletin, that reports the voice of 
Pacific civil society on human security issues in the region".

She said that this is the first time in 15 years of publication that the 
Pacific News Bulletin has been refused media accreditation.