In November 2018, the Australian Government announced the Pacific step-up, taking its engagement with the Pacific to a new level. Despite this shift, new research finds that many people in the Pacific are concerned Australia does not know how to engage successfully as part of the Pacific community. 

This panel event at the 2020 Australasian Aid Conference outlines the key findings of research commissioned by the Whitlam Institute on the views of Pacific islanders from Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands on their countries’ and region’s future place in the world. The panel explore how these three island nations perceive Australians and the government’s policies and interventions in the Pacific, and makes some recommendations. 

>> Read the research report here

Panellists:

Dr Tess Newton-Cain, Principal, TNC Pacific Consulting

James Cox, Executive Director, Peacifica

Dr Geir Henning Presterudstuen, Lecturer, Anthropology, Western Sydney University

Linda Kenni, Local Consultant, Vanuatu

Chair:

Leanne Smith, Director, Whitlam Institute

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