"Australia’s Security Race in the South Pacific" Topic

"Waging a "permanent contest" with China in the South Pacific, Australia is building new alliances and a new security system. Treaties signed with Island states are driven by fear and shock in Canberra, yet also by a sense of responsibility — plus a determination to be the top regional power.

Prone to amnesia about its permanent Pacific interests, Australia has been given a jolting reminder by the permanent contest with China. The headline phrase was coined by foreign minister Penny Wong in a 2024 interview: "We're in a state of permanent contest in the Pacific — that's the reality."

To emphasise the headline, Wong repeated the "permanent contest" line three times, and it has since become a policy touchstone. Visiting Fiji in May this year, she declared: "I've been upfront with Australians — I've described us being in permanent contest in the Pacific, and that we have to work very hard to be the partner of choice. And I've explained why we want to be the partner of choice. We want that because our security and our stability are grounded in, are located in, our region."

The race is on. Since Wong's touchstone declaration, Australia has been busy signing treaties to embrace the Islands and shut out China…"

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Armand

The main thing the government's doing is lining the pockets of the Pacific nations' leaders. As for Wong, she's one of the smarter pollies. But in the Australian federal and state parliaments that's not saying much. Their priority is "Me, Me, Me, BLEEP You", and has been for decades.