Sport Diplomacy in the Pacific

Did you hear? There’s a cold war in Paradise. China’s geostrategic thrust into the Pacific caught the Morrison government napping - especially with China’s deal with the Solomon Islands – and now there’s more to come. The Chinese Foreign Minister is visiting the Pacific in an eight country visit to negotiate trade and security agreements, similar to the one Beijing forged with the Solomon Islands.

Now the newly elected Albanese Labor government has wasted no time in trying to rebuild Australia’s reputation in the Pacific to contain China’s aggression. In fact, on the first day in office the new Foreign Minister Senator Penny Wong made a video specifically for the Pacific nations before she joined the new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the flight to Tokyo to the Quad meeting (Australia joining Japan, USA and India). And as soon as she got back, channeling former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kevin “707” Rudd, she flew straight to Fiji to reassure our regional neighbours that the new Australian Labor Government would prioritise the Pacific on its foreign policy agenda.

Penny Wong quite rightly identified climate change as a key Pacific concern, saying Australia needed to do more to save its neighbours from the fall out of years of climate inaction. The visions of former Prime Ministers Tony Abbott, Scott Morrison and now Opposition Leader Peter Dutton making jokes about rising seas and “water lapping at your door” in the Pacific were fresh in Pacific memories, hence the haste with which Wong flew to Fiji. Climate policy will be a major issue for Australia-Pacific engagement.

Along with the pressing need for climate policy action, there are also other ways to re-establish Australia’s ties with the Pacific.

One is international trade and investment. The Pacific nations already comprise 3 of our top 20 exporter destinations (that is by number of exporters, not export values), as the Pacific has always been a great nursery for exporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) trying their luck offshore for the first time. Many try the Pacific (especially New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji) before going on to ASEAN countries and the rest of the Asia Pacific.

A second is education and the labour market. The shortages of labour in rural areas of Australia have long attracted guest workers from the Pacific. When I filmed The Airport Economist Crisis and Recovery series, I visited Batlow, which had its apple orchards revived by visiting Pacific islanders who entertained the locals with magnificent singing from their choirs that are so prevalent back home. We know that many Pacific Islanders come to Australia as guest workers and as students, and many eventually settle in Australia and New Zealand where there are Pacific Islander communities in cities like Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland. Close to home, and with existing strong communities, many Pacific Islanders would prefer to settle in Sydney rather than Shanghai and Shenzhen.

A third is media and communications. The new Albanese Government could restore the services of the Australia Network and Radio Australia that were cut by the Abbott Government when Joe Hockey was Treasurer and Julie Bishop Foreign Minister.

And a fourth, which may have slipped under the radar, is Sport. It’s time the National Rugby League (NRL) granted Papua New Guinea (PNG) the 18th licence. They love their League in PNG, produce a lot of talent as well as fervent supporters, and the game brings commercial and trade opportunities to both countries. The NRL can do what Beijing can’t.

And in Rugby Union, there are now two teams in the Pacific, Moana Pasifika and Fijian Drua competing with New Zealand and Australia in the Super Rugby Pacific tournament. Rather than having Pacific players just play for Australian and New Zealand teams, there are now a couple of home-based sides as well. The export of great Pacific Rugby players to New Zealand, Australia and the northern hemisphere is well known, but it is important to ensure that player welfare is looked after (a lot of young players leave their island home at an impressionable age similar to young soccer players leaving South America and Africa to play in the English Premier League and in Europe) and that there is support at home for development programmes too, not just stars abroad.  At the University of Technology (UTS), my colleague Nico Schulenkorf runs extensive sport-for-development and health promotion programs on improving social outcomes in the Pacific from sport. Looking after the people at home as well as the superstars overseas is the reason for these UTS programmes as well as having the home based Moana Pasifika and Fijian Drua franchises in Super Rugby Pacific.

In short, economic development, trade and aid will matter in restoring Australia’s reputation in the Pacific along with Senator Wong’s emphasis on Climate Innovation. But don’t underestimate the passion for sport, especially the rugby codes, and sport diplomacy amongst the people of the Pacific, New Zealand and Australia.

Did you know you can study Sports Management at UTS? Why Sport Management | University of Technology Sydney (uts.edu.au)