Listen Now: 
Download AudioA former diplomat says New Zealand and Australia have dropped the ball over the Solomon Islands’ security deal with China.
Shane Jones, who served as the ambassador for Pacific economic development between spells as an MP, sees the controversy as less about China’s ambitions and more about the fracturing of the Pacific Forum.
He says Australia got offside with Solomons’ prime minister Manasseh Sogavare by raiding his office during a period of unrest and arresting his attorney-general Julian Moti in a case that was later thrown out because of what the judge ruled was an abuse of process.
“Those wounds run deep so I personally wasn’t surprised when the prime minister of Solomon Islands flipped the bird at the Aussies. I think Kiwis probably have a better approach in the minds of Solomon Islanders in terms of how to not only bring them on side but how to work effectively with them. The difficulty is we don’t have the chequebook of the Australians, but that game is apparently over now,” Mr Jones says
He says New Zealand’s best approach may be to greatly increase the number of Solomon Islands workers who come in under the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme, thereby strengthening relations between the counties at a personal level.
RELATED NEWS
