How much charity should we be pouring into the pacific "nations"? It's not our fault, is it, that they are isolated small island communities with bugger all to offer us?

That's how life is in the pacific, lovely little places, but not much to do and no way to grow beyond what they have.

Why should the Australian taxpayer support them?

You talk about the Australian government as if it is separate to the will and requirements of the actual people it is in place to support and who FUND IT!

We give a lot of charity now, be grateful for it, if Australia goes does the AGW route, then there will be very little money to spray around to all the various islands with their hands out.

That's the downside of that lifestyle, you are eventually reduced to begging.

That's what this is, a begging letter, couched in terms of entitlement and obligation.

We already give all over the world, to accuse us of not doing enough for our "neighbors" is a bit much.

Trade & Aid - Key Issues in the Pacific. "The way the Australian and New Zealand governments deal with the issue of trade is a crucial test of whether they are prepared to listen to the Pacific’s unique needs and aspirations."

Your opening lines Andrew Hewett however, unfair and a negative gear. If we are serious we need to stick to the purpose of building equity into Trade, Aid, Climate Change Partnerships... else it is us who fails 'fairness' in our negative approach.

http://www.miacat.com/

What the islanders need to do is try working for a living. Surely we have enough people on sit down money in Oz, without taking on many more.

I was in New Guinea, & the Solomons, for PNG self government, & independence.

I saw the government, using Oz aid money, buy many copra plantations from Oz planters, & give them to the villagers. This went on for some years, but had to be stopped due to loss of exports.

A plantation producing 30 ton a month of copra would fall to less than three tons a month, in local hands in just a few months. The villagers did not want more income, so why should the work like silly Europeans?

The one talk system which predominates in Melanesia makes proper business operation almost impossible. These people have to drag themselves into the world, by their own effort, we can not do it for them. In fact it is highly probable it is only their elites who wish to join the modern world.

They are great people, & I love them dearly, but they will take decades to become businesslike, if they are silly enough to ever do it.

The previous comments seem to miss the point of the article.
Which is essentially saying a Free Trade agreement is not in the best interests of the island states.

The (un)free trade agreements globally are of little benefit to the lesser economic markets.

I say (un)free because freedom means not having to get permission to say no to something which is not good for your people.

If you exclude extractive industries, our trade balance with China is also about 6:1

Putting tariffs on inputs (especially machinery and other production items) increases the cost of production and makes countries like PNG uncompetitive.

Getting rid of the input tariffs while painful in the short run will yield great benefits in the long run as local industries not only can produce more cheaply, but are no longer faced with retaliatory tariffs from other countries.

18yrs ago South Africa went through the same exercise and while there were a few bumpy years, by 2000 the economy took off and at one point was growing faster than China.

You cannot have wealth without productivity, you cannot have productivity without trade, and you cannot have free trade with tariffs.