Scott Morrison has returned from summer holidays with a herculean political challenge looming — in only a few months he’ll take his Coalition Government to the polls and try to pull off an unlikely election victory.
But the Prime Minister won’t spend his first week back touring marginal seats or locked in strategic conclaves with his advisers.Instead, he’ll kick off 2019 by jetting to the Pacific island nations of Vanuatu and Fiji for a state visit.In a small way, Mr Morrison is making history.
Australian prime ministers typically spend much more time flying over the Pacific than visiting it.While they often jet into the region to attend annual Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders meetings, formal bilateral trips like this are almost unheard of.No Australian PM has visited Vanuatu since 1990, when Bob Hawke attended the PIF leaders meeting.
John Howard went to Fiji back in 2006 for the same reason.
Australian National University academic and former diplomat James Batley — who has represented Australia in several Pacific nations — says there’s powerful symbolism at play.
China’s interest in the region
Last year the Morrison Government made a series of high-profile promises as part of its Pacific “step up”, including a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure bank, several new diplomatic posts, and a permanent new Defence training force.
It’s all part of a concerted push to reassert Australia’s influence and centrality in the region, which is being increasingly challenged by new players like China.
The Prime Minister’s visit is designed to reinforce the message that Australia is taking the Pacific seriously.
“It is part of a refocus of our international efforts on our own region and making sure we can have the biggest possible difference,” Mr Morrison told the ABC’s News Breakfast program.
And Mr Batley says Mr Morrison might have grasped that in order to do so, he must build a strong personal rapport with his Pacific counterparts.
“We have a very strong diplomatic network in the region, but the personal relationships between leaders are absolutely critical to the success of Australia’s policies,” Mr Batley said.
So expect Mr Morrison to be greeted with ceremony and goodwill when he touches down in both countries.
But there are still stumbling blocks and points of tension — including some that have been conjured out of thin air by the Coalition.