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Articles by James Batley
A family of ducks: Migration
When was the last time you went to the movies? I took my kid to the movies on Saturday and met friends who were also bringing their young ones. It was good to see more moviegoers and children enjoying the school holidays. I highly recommend ‘Migration’ if you want a fun cartoon for your little ones or just a feel-good family cartoon to see at Apollo Cinemas. Migration is about a family of Mallards, ducks who are comfortable in their little pond until new ducks stop over on their way to Jamaica.
A shared future and a new chapter for China-Samoa relations
Talofa lava, dear Samoan friends! It’s a pleasure to “meet” you all on Samoa Observer. On January 16th, as the new Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the Independent State of Samoa, with great honour, I presented the Letter of Credence to the Member of the Council of Deputies, Afioga Le Mamea Tuiletufuga Ropati Mualia. When I arrived in Samoa on January 1st, I was greeted with the beautiful scenery and the enthusiasm and smiles of Samoan people.
One year, three agreements: Shaping thinking on regional security
Penny Wong arriving in Port Vila in December 2022. Photo courtesy of Senator for SA/Facebook. By James Batley It’s been a busy 12 months for security negotiators in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Office of the Pacific. The last year saw the signing – although not yet the ratification; that’s another story – of bilateral security agreements with Vanuatu (December 2022), Tuvalu (November 2023) and Papua New Guinea (December 2023).
One year, three agreements: shaping thinking on regional security
It’s been a busy 12 months for security negotiators in DFAT’s Office of the Pacific. The last year saw the signing – although not yet the ratification; that’s another story – of bilateral security agreements with Vanuatu (December 2022), Tuvalu (November 2023) and Papua New Guinea (December 2023). Each of these agreements is specific to the relationship it covers. Even so, it can be instructive to set them side by side.
Australia and the Pacific: now for the hard part
Australia’s new government has made a strong start in the Pacific islands since its election in May. Early visits by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to the Pacific Islands Forum, and bilateral visits by Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy, have laid the foundation for strong personal connections over coming years. The government has actively sought to contrast itself with its predecessor in its approach to the region.
Timor-Leste: The new president needs to tune in
Following Timor-Leste’s presidential run-off election on 19 April, José Ramos-Horta has been confirmed as the country’s next president in a landslide victory over Francisco “Lú-Olo” Guterres. The outcome reveals a political scene still dominated by the old guard – the heroes of the independence struggle. The election campaign provided a glimpse of the rift between one-time friends in arms, while solidifying the alliance of the political parties that form the current government.
Indian Ocean step-up
Like Australia in the Pacific, India has been pursuing its own Indian Ocean island step-up, largely driven by concerns about China’s growing influence in the region. This has included increased bilateral aid, investment, and security assistance to the island states. India is also trying to develop regional security structures that focus on maritime and other transnational security threats. India may find that it can gain considerable leverage from working with regional partners.
Pacific needs partnership, not just leadership
Book review: Richard Marles, Tides That Bind: Australia In The Pacific (Monash University Publishing, 2021) There’s much to like in Richard Marles’ new essay on Australia’s relations with the Pacific, Tides That Bind. Above all is the author’s passion for his subject. Those who have had the privilege of working with him know that this passion is genuine and deeply felt.
New Caledonia eyes final vote on independence
France is showing signs of frustration as it exerts all efforts to underline the real consequences of independence for those long-standing New Caledonian residents who will vote in a third and final referendum before the 1998 Noumea Accord ends next year. French Minister for Overseas Territories Sebastian Lecornu has invited selected political leaders to Paris for talks from 26 May to 3 June, focused on the timing and implications of the third vote, which follows referendums in 2018 and 2020.
Where will Australia stand on banning weapons of mass destruction?
Last week saw the 50th state ratification of the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). In just under 90 days, the treaty will enter into force, and at that point, nuclear weapons – like chemical and biological weapons, the other kinds of weapon of mass destruction – will become illegal under international law.
Attitudes towards women’s political participation in Solomon Islands
A total of 26 women stood as candidates at the 2019 Solomon Islands national general election and, for the first time since independence, two women won seats in the national parliament. While this could be perceived as a positive development, it is clear that women remain poorly represented in national politics. Baker has provided a detailed overview of women’s candidacy and their competitiveness at the 2019 election.
Constituency Development Funds and electoral politics in Solomon Islands: part one
An important component of our research on observing the most recent election in the Solomon Islands was to explore how Constituency Development Funds (CDFs) impact voter behaviour. We were particularly interested in how political support is acquired and maintained by incumbent members of parliament (MPs). We discuss our findings in two parts: in Part 1, we present some of our findings on voters’ experiences with CDFs as well as their perceptions of how CDFs are spent.
Book Review: Superpower showdown
Book Review: Bob Davis and Lingling Wei, Superpower Showdown: How the Battle Between Trump and Xi Threatens a New Cold War (HarperCollins, 2020). Global relations are undergoing a dramatic shift. China is increasingly assertive internationally and repressive domestically.
Chart of the week: Global trade through a US-China lens
Who dominates global trade? It is well recognised that China has become the world’s largest trading nation. Less appreciated is the effect this has had in displacing the United States from its traditional dominance as a trading partner for other countries around the world. We examined this using data from the IMF’s Direction of Trade Statistics database, which provides a repository of bilateral trade flows for most countries.
An independent Bougainville? Don’t hold your breath
An independent Bougainville? Don’t hold your breath By James Batley It seems that the overwhelming outcome of the referendum on Bougainville, with over 97% of eligible voters supporting independence, surprised even seasoned observers. Still, as is well known, the vote is not binding.
An independent Bougainville? Don’t hold your breath
It seems that the overwhelming outcome of the referendum on Bougainville, with over 97% of eligible voters supporting independence, surprised even seasoned observers. Still, as is well known, the vote is not binding. Under the terms of the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement, the governments of Papua New Guinea and Bougainville are now required to consult over the outcome of the referendum, and the result of that consultation will be subject to ratification by the PNG parliament.
Pacific Islands stand ground on West Papua push
One of the criticisms of the Pacific Islands Forum over the years relates to the regional grouping’s limited ability to advance its agenda in the face of the interests of Australia and New Zealand. The power imbalance hasn’t always made for a cohesive regionalism. Yet it’s worth noting a rare victory for the island countries at the recent Forum Foreign Ministers meeting in Suva.
Yemen conflict: why a British court ruling could matter for Australia
The Australian and British governments continue to support defence exports to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – countries accused by the United Nations of committing war crimes in Yemen – despite mounting pressure for Western countries to halt military sales to the Saudi Arabian-led coalition.
US undermines UN Security Council resolution against wartime rape
Overnight, the UN Security Council held its annual Open Debate on Conflict Related Sexual Violence. As current president of the Council, Germany hosted the debate. It has been preparing all year and held an Arria Formula meeting in February on strengthening accountability for conflict-related sexual violence. Germany wanted the debate to cover two key issues: accountability and survivor-centred responses.
Australia’s new Pacific Czar
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has now established an Office of the Pacific, a measure foreshadowed in 2018 as part of Australia’s Pacific “step up”. Ewen McDonald, formerly High Commissioner in Wellington and a Deputy Secretary in DFAT, has been appointed head of the Office. McDonald will sit atop DFAT’s two Pacific divisions, the Pacific Bilateral Division and the Pacific Strategy Division.
Will Solomon Islands abandon Taiwan?
Over the last couple of years Taiwan has been steadily haemorrhaging diplomatic allies. Countries from Africa, Central America and the Caribbean have switched allegiance to Beijing, leaving just 17 countries maintaining formal relations with Taipei. The largest bloc of such countries is in the Pacific, comprising Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
Getting realistic about the South Pacific
Advocates of stronger and more effective Australian engagement in the South Pacific face a couple of entrenched structural challenges. First, the region is hardly critical to Australia’s economic future—the South Pacific accounts for a mere 1.3% of Australia’s total trade in goods and services. And Papua New Guinea represents well over half of that, meaning that all the rest of the Pacific islands add up to just over half of 1% of our total trade.
Review: Safeguarding Australia’s security interests through closer Pacific ties
Greg Colton’s Safeguarding Australia’s security interests through closer Pacific ties sits in a long tradition of mainstream thinking about the significance of the Pacific for Australia’s national security.
Taking the Australia-Indonesia Relationship to the Next Level - AIIA
Bilateral relations between Canberra and Jakarta are continuing to shift from a donor-recipient context towards an economic and strategic partnership. It presents a time of disruption and opportunity for the two countries. Amid the changing dynamics in the Indo-Pacific, many agree that there is the potential to increase economic, social, political and defence links between Australia and Indonesia.
Questioning Australia's Unquestioned Foreign Policy - AIIA
As the Australian Parliament opened for 2018 this week, the major parties began another year of spirited and often combative debate. What continues to be lacking, however, is substantial foreign policy debate. On the face of it, you could say that on both sides of the Australian political spectrum the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper was relatively well received.
Australia’s Silence on Indonesia - AIIA
Indonesian reading the Foreign Policy White Paper would be forgiven for thinking that Australia doesn’t see their country as all that important to its foreign policy. The problem for Australia is that they probably couldn’t care less. Prime Minister Paul Keating famously said in 1994, “no country is more important to Australia than Indonesia.
The Manus Island Stand-off and Australia-PNG Relations - AIIA
The stand-off at the asylum seeker detention centre on Manus Island has created a predictable crisis with no clear long-term resolution and potentially serious consequences for Australia-PNG bilateral relations. Hundreds of refugees continue to barricade themselves in at the Manus Island detention centre in protest at being forced to leave what they believe is the only safe place for them. There is no food, water or power available in the centre.
The Pacific’s independent small island states: time running out? - Devpolicy Blog from the Development Policy Centre
Whatever their natural endowments and colonial inheritances, the future of the Pacific Island countries (PICs) of Nauru, Tuvalu and Kiribati must have seemed precarious at the time of independence (1968, 1978 and 1979 respectively) with their small populations (Nauru just over 6000; Tuvalu just under 8000; and Kiribati under 60,000) and isolated locations. In addition, all three countries lacked any formal arrangement with a metropolitan state.
What does the 2016 census reveal about Pacific Islands communities in Australia? - Devpolicy Blog from the Development Policy Centre
The release of the 2016 Australian national census data allows comparisons with data from the 2006 and 2011 censuses. What do the data reveal about Pacific Islander communities in Australia?
Is Australia’s approach in the Pacific coming into focus (at last)?
During his visit to the Federated States of Micronesia for the Pacific Islands Forum summit in September 2016, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said his government was 'committed to a step change in our engagement [with the Pacific], to be guided by a new Pacific strategy'. While it’s been a long time coming, this ‘step change' is starting to come into focus, with a speech delivered by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop last weekend in Suva.
RAMSI chapter ends in Australia’s Pacific story - Devpolicy Blog from the Development Policy Centre
On 30 June this year, the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) will come to an end after 14 years. RAMSI was deployed in mid-2003 at the invitation of a desperate Solomon Islands government following several years of conflict between armed militant groups, a collapse in law and order and in the state’s capacity to deliver services, and a disastrous decline in economic activity.
Papua New Guinea's aid program in the region
Although it is not large by global standards, Papua New Guinea’s provision of aid to other Pacific island countries has become a significant part of its regional diplomacy. This post draws on available open sources to provide a necessarily preliminary outline of Papua New Guinea’s aid program in the region. Evolution The origin of Papua New Guinea’s aid program can be traced back to an announcement by former prime minister Bill Skate in 1997 of a grant scheme to assist Solomon Islands.
hard choices looming for Australia? (part I)
The 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement (BPA) marked the formal end to the 1990s Bougainville conflict, even though a truce, and subsequently a ceasefire, had been in place since late 1997. Among other things, the BPA provided for a delayed referendum on Bougainville’s future relationship with Papua New Guinea. Under an agreed formula, the referendum will be held between June 2015 and June 2020. There are now clear risks, however, that the BPA mightn’t last the distance.
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