OUR FAILING NEIGHBOUR – AUSTRALIA AND THE FUTURE OF SOLOMON ISLANDS

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Release of an Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) Policy Report on Solomon Islands 

The Honourable Alexander Downer, MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs, today launched the ASPI report Our Failing Neighbour: Australia and the Future of Solomon Islands in the Mural Hall at Parliament House in Canberra.

Solomon Islands, one of Australia’s nearest neighbours, is a failing state. Over the past five years, a slow-burning political and security crisis has paralysed the country’s capital, stifled its economy, disrupted government, discouraged aid donors, and inflicted suffering and hardship on its people.

The consequences for Australia are serious. A failing state on our doorstep engages Australia’s interests at many levels, from short-term economic, consular and humanitarian concerns to our most enduring strategic imperatives. 

The report examines Australia’s interests and the problems facing Solomon Islands. It then sets out the following possible policy approach: Australia could initiate and support a sustained and comprehensive multinational effort, which, with the consent of Solomon Islands, would undertake a two-phase program to rehabilitate the country.
 

  • The first phase would focus on restoring law and order. It would involve a substantial police force of around 150 personnel drawn from donor countries, along with judicial and correctional personnel, being deployed to Solomon Islands for up to a year. An ad hoc multilateral agency representing donor governments and acting on behalf of the people of Solomon Islands would take temporary control of the police and government finances.
     
  • The second phase would focus on building Solomon Islands’ capacity for effective government by helping to build new political structures and security institutions, and helping to address underlying social and economic problems.
     

The report was prepared by Dr Elsina Wainwright, ASPI Strategy and International Program Director, with contributors Quinton Clements, Mary-Louise O’Callaghan and Greg Urwin.

To find a copy of the report go to ASPI’s web site: http://www.aspi.org.au