More aid is, indeed, a silly idea as is the 'Pacific Family' nonsense. Australia and its near neighbours have very little in common, as the Solomons and PNG have demonstrated. They are constantly stabbing us in the back, even though we have given them massive aid, and they have made it easier for China to threaten us more than ever. Even ultra-socialist New Zealand, with its white self-loathing, cannot be trusted when it comes to China.

We need to protect ourselves from them, not pay them. Nor should we believe that they are interested in being patronised, as suggested by this author. A strongly defended, fortress Australia is what is needed.

Meh..
Sounds like a plan to use 'democracy' and civil society groups to stir everyone up, into voting in a puppet ruler more amenable to western approval.
George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Victoria Nuland, Neoconservatives, National Institute for Democracy and Klaus Schwab would be proud.

A fist full of Chinese dollars and their security personal with boots on the ground, will possibly buy a local corrupt PM? Especially one who wants to rule for life, the real goal of the S.I. P.M.?

AS for aid? it needs to come as cheap reliable energy that ends the need to buy increasingly expensive diesel! For mine that means MSR thorium and power prices as low as 1 cent PKWH! And good for the next 100 years.

And done as mass produced reactor models are assembled in a purpose built Australian factory then gifted to our Pacific partners to change their lives more than shiploads of charity could ever do!

Much of the mass production shipped to the Australian states to enable manufacturing to begin or restart. First cab off the rank would be locally produced assembly robots for all sorts of Automated manufacture, the first being locally produced EVs that have large export potential/markets. We have the metals and all the mineral components of the motors and batteries!

What we need is a single site and a single company to do it all from a single place with a single company the only import being the raw materials! This would eliminate the double handling in triplicate up and down the production chain and the endlessly cascading tax bill adding to the final cost.

Which would be more than halved as the consequence. AI assisted direct marketing halving it yet again! Automation halving it once more! And scales of economy repeating that outcome. And means tooling up to produce a million vehicles a years and as single models initially! Cars, trucks, planes and boats?
Alan B.

Talking to an ex-PNG Gold Mine bloke yesterday who told me that Australia simply could not compete with the cash the Chinese can provide.
So, nothing apart from more cash could get Australia any influence in the dysfunctional Pacific family circle.
Anyone blaming Morrison for not 'doing' enough needs their head read !
What Morrison should be doing is to cease paying Billions in 'Aid' to these "Nations".
Australians would do a lot more with that money than the family members of the Pacific have shown they're capable of !

If we want to "regain our regional influence" in the Pacific Islands or anywhere else for that matter, the first thing is to stop all wasteful spending on foreign aid. The second thing is to spend every cent saved, & a whole lot more probably, on nuclear armed ICBMs & Cruise missiles. A properly armed Oz will be much more influential than we are armed with pop guns as today, no matter how much we pay the politicians.

If we want to do something really helpful, we could help then develop a rice growing industry. Even back in the 70s it was becoming a staple for much of the population, but is mostly imported. Helping them to develop village rice growing would be much more helpful to the majority of the population, rather than helping develop palm oil, which only helps the wealthy.

Hasbeen,
yes, but what could be done about those too stupid even for cannon fodder ? It's not beyond possibility for Australia to have a defence system that only requires a few video gamers to do the job.
Small nuclear or thorium power stations as Alan B proposes would solve the other problems.
But again, what to do about the stupid/indoctrinated who aren't of any use to anyone ?
I maintain that only a type of Gap year National Service can save us from them out-breeding us.
Australia's problem are actual naturally stupid, the problem are the Leftist indoctrinated who sabotage anything that has merit for building a smarter & better society. It's a mentality issue.