{"id":48183,"date":"2019-06-11T06:00:04","date_gmt":"2019-06-10T20:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=48183"},"modified":"2019-06-12T17:49:39","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T07:49:39","slug":"big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/","title":{"rendered":"Big yellow taxi departs South Pacific"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Don\u2019t it always seem to go
\nThat you don\u2019t know what you\u2019ve got
\nTill it\u2019s gone\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Joni Mitchell<\/a>, \u2018Big Yellow Taxi\u2019<\/p>\n

The international system is having a Big Yellow Taxi moment, as so elegantly described by Joni Mitchell.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re confronting what\u2019s gone and what\u2019s coming instead. In the South Pacific, that covers everything from climate change to regional order<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Professor Joni\u2019s strategic insight was my metaphor for the panel discussing three ASPI reports<\/a>: on Papua New Guinea, China\u2019s soft power in the islands, and Australia\u2019s Pacific pivot.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Copus-Campbell spoke first on the PNG\u2013Australia development partnership<\/a>, calling for a rethink and a redesign. This was policy meets lived experience, delivered with vivid energy: \u2018Papua New Guinea is a fascinating, beautiful country with so many incredible people. It\u2019s one of only a small number of countries which has transitioned from being colonised to independence peacefully and with a democracy intact.\u2019<\/p>\n

It\u2019s natural to go vivid when talking about PNG.<\/p>\n

But the development indicators Copus-Campbell lists for PNG are also vivid in worrying ways. Time for transformation that shifts beyond aid projects to partnership: \u2018I dislike the word \u201caid\u201d. It sets up a power dynamic between a donor and recipient and can rob one actor in this dynamic of a voice and lead to misinformed approaches and poor ownership of outcomes.\u2019<\/p>\n

The partnership must align Australia\u2019s abiding interests in the region with what PNG needs and decides. As Copus-Campbell concludes:<\/p>\n

Imagine if 80% of the Australian population woke up to no electricity, no running water, no health or education services, and not even a grocery store to buy food. How long would we last? Not long. The people of PNG are incredibly resilient and have a pretty good sense of what they want for their future. That\u2019s a good starting point for all development.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Professor Richard Herr then gave a typically thoughtful account of his study of the yin and yang of Chinese influence in the South Pacific<\/a>, and China\u2019s emergence as \u2018the most prominent new star\u2019 in island affairs.<\/p>\n

Herr argues that China\u2019s influence is more about economic clout than soft power: \u2018The admiration that Pacific Island states feel for China is genuine. However, on balance, China\u2019s current regional soft power lacks breadth and depth, although it\u2019s still evolving.\u2019<\/p>\n

In responding to the China challenge in the region, Australia needs to know the dragon\u2019s limits as well as its capabilities.<\/p>\n

And Herr says Australia shouldn\u2019t indulge in too much of a lament about losing regional influence: \u2018The argument that Australia somehow neglected the Pacific Islands and allowed Chinese soft-power influence to grow is faulty. It denies the undeniability of China\u2019s increase in power and influence globally over recent decades. This debate has already inflicted some harm on Australia\u2019s soft power in the region by reviving colonialist imagery of possession and dominance.\u2019<\/p>\n

The possession\/dominance point matters in this complicated discussion of Australia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and the islands\u2014not just a yellow taxi lament about what\u2019s lost but defining the best vehicles for getting to what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n

In the gig on my Pacific pivot paper<\/a> I argued that the yellow cab ain\u2019t taking us back to versions of Oz paternalism\/colonialism\/imperialism. Nor is this all about competition with China, based on Australia\u2019s abiding strategic denial instinct in the islands.<\/p>\n

The strands of destiny, duty, denial and desire<\/a> mean that Australia\u2019s Pacific conversation is also about ourselves and where we live.<\/p>\n

The biggest arguments I\u2019ve had over my paper haven\u2019t been about China\u2019s growing role, but rather the terms of Canberra\u2019s offer to the South Pacific of economic and security integration with Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

The New Zealand perspective seems to be that the integration strategy in Australia\u2019s 2017 foreign policy white paper<\/a> doesn\u2019t show enough understanding of the sovereignty and identity of the islands.<\/p>\n

During the Q and A, I had fun arguing that this is a classic kiwi effort at walking both sides of the street. New Zealand identifies as a South Pacific state while also drawing all the benefits of being Australia\u2019s de facto seventh state.<\/p>\n

Being integrated with Australia does no harm to New Zealand\u2019s admirable sense of self. The kiwi example, I argue, shows the South Pacific how much more can be achieved through integration.<\/p>\n

Another of my comments that got attention is that Prime Minister Scott Morrison is a genius\u2014at least in his embrace and expression of the idea of Australia as part of the \u2018Pacific family\u2019. Integration is difficult and detailed policy; family is warm and embracing. Masterful!<\/p>\n

Even Australia\u2019s great foe in the South Pacific over the past decade, Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, is happy to embrace Morrison and family, a development that\u2019s as promising as it\u2019s surprising.<\/p>\n

One of the great Oz correspondents in the South Pacific, Mary-Louise O\u2019Callaghan, offers an excellent analysis of how religion has linked the Morrison family to the islands<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Veterans over the past couple of decades of many church-related trips to the Pacific (mostly Fiji), the Morrisons, frequently privileged to be house guests of their Pacific Island hosts, are more than familiar with the legendary and very genuine warmth of island hospitality. Such intimate exposure to the ebb and flow of ordinary Pacific life over nearly half a lifetime, also renders Australia\u2019s 30th Prime Minister somewhat unique \u2026 Morrison is likely the first prime minister since Federation to bring to the office such personal insight and real affinity for our island neighbours. When Scott Morrison speaks of the Pacific being family he actually means it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The family imagining offers much for the journey Australia and islands must do together.<\/p>\n

Remembering, of course, Professor Joni\u2019s warning in one of her seminal songs of grand strategy:<\/p>\n

They paved paradise
\nAnd put up a parking lot<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t it always seem to go That you don\u2019t know what you\u2019ve got Till it\u2019s gone\u00a0 \u2014 Joni Mitchell, \u2018Big Yellow Taxi\u2019 The international system is having a Big Yellow Taxi moment, as so elegantly …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":48186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17,294,2160,99],"class_list":["post-48183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australia","tag-diplomacy","tag-pacific-islands","tag-south-pacific"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBig yellow taxi departs South Pacific | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Big yellow taxi departs South Pacific | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Don\u2019t it always seem to go That you don\u2019t know what you\u2019ve got Till it\u2019s gone\u00a0 \u2014 Joni Mitchell, \u2018Big Yellow Taxi\u2019 The international system is having a Big Yellow Taxi moment, as so elegantly ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-10T20:00:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-06-12T07:49:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/15153116579_46cc84609f_z.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"427\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Graeme Dobell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Graeme Dobell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/15153116579_46cc84609f_z.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/15153116579_46cc84609f_z.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":427},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/\",\"name\":\"Big yellow taxi departs South Pacific | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-10T20:00:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-12T07:49:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ed3342cd61abc65c1532f3cc46bdf96f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Big yellow taxi departs South Pacific\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ed3342cd61abc65c1532f3cc46bdf96f\",\"name\":\"Graeme Dobell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dff56734d4df784248f63058b7b6900a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dff56734d4df784248f63058b7b6900a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Graeme Dobell\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/graeme-dobell\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Big yellow taxi departs South Pacific | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Big yellow taxi departs South Pacific | The Strategist","og_description":"Don\u2019t it always seem to go That you don\u2019t know what you\u2019ve got Till it\u2019s gone\u00a0 \u2014 Joni Mitchell, \u2018Big Yellow Taxi\u2019 The international system is having a Big Yellow Taxi moment, as so elegantly ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2019-06-10T20:00:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-06-12T07:49:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":427,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/15153116579_46cc84609f_z.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Graeme Dobell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Graeme Dobell","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/15153116579_46cc84609f_z.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/15153116579_46cc84609f_z.jpg","width":640,"height":427},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/","name":"Big yellow taxi departs South Pacific | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2019-06-10T20:00:04+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-12T07:49:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ed3342cd61abc65c1532f3cc46bdf96f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/big-yellow-taxi-departs-south-pacific\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Big yellow taxi departs South Pacific"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ed3342cd61abc65c1532f3cc46bdf96f","name":"Graeme Dobell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dff56734d4df784248f63058b7b6900a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dff56734d4df784248f63058b7b6900a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Graeme Dobell"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/graeme-dobell\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48183"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48183"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48258,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48183\/revisions\/48258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}