Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is flying into the Solomon Islands on Tuesday night. Photo / Mark Mitchell
New Zealand’s role in Pacific development projects is being complicated by the exclusion of world powers from this year’s Pacific Islands Forum.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will fly tonight from New Zealand to the Solomon Islands capital of Honiara to attend the pivotal annual meeting of Pacific leaders, which has been consumed by debate over the host nation’s decision to bar non-Pacific countries (dialogue partners), such as the United States, United Kingdom and China, from this year’s forum.
Luxon is expected to have several meetings with some Pacific leaders ahead of the leaders’ summit, a fixture of the international event that sees the most powerful people in the Pacific whisked away to a private location to discuss the region’s priorities and challenges.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele’s decision to restrict this year’s forum to PIF members was announced about a month ago at a meeting of the Pacific foreign ministers, including New Zealand’s Winston Peters who opposed the move.
While Manele has maintained the decision was informed by delays to the forum’s consideration over how dialogue partners complemented PIF meetings, it has been widely seen as an effort to avoid a backlash from China, which opposes Taiwan’s participation as a partner.
On the inclusion of non-Pacific partners, Luxon this week said New Zealand had advocated strongly for the “status quo”, describing PIF as a good opportunity to engage with large nations, “particularly on development opportunities”.
One such opportunity was the Bina Harbour Tuna Processing Plant Project, for which New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had provided more than $4 million to fund an office assessing the project’s economic feasibility.
With an estimated price tag north of $320m, New Zealand is unlikely to make much of a dent but it had been hoped conversations on the ground with more wealthy allies, particularly those in Europe, could have prompted progress towards a multi-donor partnership.
Peters, who described the exclusion of partners as “unnecessary and unhelpful”, acknowledged finding supportive partners to advance projects would be “more difficult” in their absence.
However, he noted “normality will be restored” next year when PIF is hosted by Palau, who will allow the attendance of dialogue partners as one of three PIF members with diplomatic ties to Taiwan.
Massey University associate professor Anna Powles told the Herald the United States’ absence could prove costly for the region.
“Given that the bandwidth in Washington DC is pretty narrow on Pacific issues, there is obviously some concern that having tried to ensure that the Pacific Island Forum and Pacific issues were front of mind for the Trump administration … there is some concern that this could potentially dampen interest in Washington DC on Pacific issues.”
Peters appeared less concerned, citing the US’ ongoing review of its aid programme.
“If they haven’t got anything to say right here right now whilst they make up their mind for October, they’d be understanding in their case.”
Powles said the international debate over the absence of dialogue partners had distracted from more material issues facing the Pacific.
“It’s really dominated the airways and there’s some frustration about that, that once again, geopolitics has dominated a meeting where the attention really needs to be focused on the agenda and on the issues which are of concern and of priority for Pacific countries.”
Among the more significant developments expected from this year’s forum was the signing of the Pacific Resilience Facility treaty, which provided a climate financing vehicle that New Zealand has donated $20m towards.
Also likely to be agreed was Fiji PM Sitiveni Rabuka’s Ocean of Peace declaration, which proposed a framework to manage conflict in the region and how to prioritise peace-building, although questions remained about how it could be implemented.
Leaders were also expected to support New Zealand’s bid to host the forum in 2027, 16 years after it last hosted.
Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.