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.

PM Sogavare could well be the main problem to overcome re the SI situation; he has been described as a nasty left race-baiter, yapping about white supremacy. I don't think he is all that popular with the general population. The Chinese are not very popular with ordinary Solomon Islanders, either.

I think I'm ready to agree with you individual;
I've never been that keen on compulsory military service because I think it pushes us towards normalising ourselves as a war nation

(though I have been keen on an overhaul of work for the dole - double dole for full time work helping the government save money - the job you have when you don't have a job)

These kids today, many are becoming so hopeless before their life even begins.
They don't play outside or get dirty or play in the rain or ride their bikes in the street anymore, just sit in front of an ipad or a gaming console.
- Anything would be better than nothing.

It might be a far better proposition to have them preparing for some kind of year of physical activity and learning something useful, so long as it's not all war-minded.
- Something needs to change.

And yes we need to cut back on foreign aid, (I've always had this opinion) if we cant even help flood and bushfire victims, or people on hospital waiting lists in their time of need then why are we giving money away to other countries?

And many of the things you all say about the Solomon Islands / China / Sogavare probably do hold merit, but as you all know I'm just not keen on sanctions or liberal intervention.

I haven't forgotten Imelda Marcos and her famous shoe collection.

I think we've reached the stage where we need to draw the line on idealism. The state of affairs is as clear as it can possible get that we need to concentrate on saving our butts. Everyone else seems to be doing it but at our expense & that's what needs to stop.
Australia has given & compensated more than enough, it's time to look after our own.
Stop the one-way trail of Dollars across Australia's boarder. We're not getting value for our efforts & let others blatantly exploit us, courtesy of our greedy bureaucrats. The minor parties must clearly declare up front which major party they'll give their share of votes to.
We need a Govt that is not being sabotaged by opposition parties at every turn.
Becoming smarter rather than more stupid our population needs to give allegiance to the Nation & not to Religion, Race or political parties. Those who put Religion before faith & the common good can pack up & try their stunts elsewhere !
Australia has the resources to stand on its own two feet & to defend itself it requires de-dumbing in our education system & de-greeding in the corporate sector !

individual,

Yes. Time for Fortress Australia. Self-sufficiency in manufacturing and food. Much more spending on defence. No more immigration, except in extraordinary circumstances. Official cessation of multiculturalism - be Australian or leave. No more dealings with a Communist dictatorship after becoming self sufficient. Trade only with democracies. No association with the UN. Realise that our only friends are in the Anglosphere, some Commonwealth countries, and Japan. No more toadying to minorities, queers and aboriginal-'identifying' activists. Increased use of fossil fuels and other natural resources that we have been blessed with.

ttbn, we have around 40% of the worlds thorium and that's enough to power our nation until the universe ends in a great big black hole around 13.5 billion years from now. Coal? Max 700 years, and impossible to finance today!

We are also blessed with all the rare earths that we need for batteries we make here. And we do need to stop selling rocks to China then importing finished goods that come with the cost of two way transport there and back.

The S.I. P.M. is toadying up to The CCP as a means to hold on to his personal power, influence and wealth! And that is the short and long of it! And when we ordered nuclear subs, he saw that as his opportunity to ingratiate himself!?
Alan B.

Alan,

Yep. We just need politicians with brains and confidence. But, they are much rarer than our minerals.

We just need politicians with brains and confidence.
ttbn,
With smarter voters you end up with more competent politicians because they can then count on the support of the voters when the need arises to dump incompetent & corrupt bureaucrats !
Alas, the way it is now, the Public Service Unions steadfastly stick to the Peter Principle as that provides the votes for Labor from the Left in general !

Something needs to change.
Armchair critic,
Yes, change the mentality of those who shirk effort to contribute yet point the finger when those who did contribute enjoy dividends !

S.M. MSR thorium built here and gifted to our pacific neigbours, is a modest gift that will keep giving for up to 100 years.

I mean, the cost of energy impacts either positively or negatively on every part of every economy, be it the cost of living, doing or running (a) business or transport.

And the lower the cost of the cascading energy bill the lower the cost of practically everything else!

Here in Oz our manufacturing sector was forced offshore when the energy bill (around 30+%) was higher than the wages (around 16% averaged) bill!

Not for nothing are those words, it's the economy stupid, more relevant today than when they were first uttered!
Alan B.

One commentator has described the CCP/SI deal as a "shot across our bows", requiring a "thorough reassessment of security strategies and policies to ensure Australia’s sovereignty and prosperity".

We have no "historical memory". The Solomons was the intended starting point for a Japanese invasion of Australia, as Communist China is well aware, even if historically-literate Australians are not. The objective was to use SI and Bougainville (where my father was stationed during WW2) to cut off supplies from America to Australia and New Zealand. It would be naive to think that the CCP is not up to the same game. We are still supplied with imports of fuel and essentials through the very same area.

World War III is coming, and the West is going to lose.
The West are the oppressors who seek to use money and trade as weapons.
You think we are tightening a noose around Russia's neck, but Russia is no longer a communist country and has turned back towards her Coptic Christian roots.

Russia and China have the initiative, they will tear off that noose around their necks at a time of their own choosing.
They care not, about the so-called rules-based order
Which has seen government after government overthrown, and endless oppression and suffering in the process.

Russia and China might not be perfect, but they ARE on the right side of history.
Even now the west is destroying itself trying to bring a war to these nations.
You watch food shortages come, and global supply issues and famine.
Economies will be in ruins and millions will suffer.

Even now, why should we all suffer because the Ukraine wants to join NATO?
Easiest way to have prevented this mess, would've been to say "The Ukraine must remain a neutral country and cannot join NATO".

Russia and China ARE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY.
But if we side with the oppressors, we will pay a price too.

Armchair critic,
Yep !

Hey individual,
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to be invaded or ruled by the Chinese or anybody else.
And I know many of these governments the US has overthrown were also certainly far from perfect towards their own citizens.

I wish we could give the Queen back the Union Jack, and request nuclear technology as a parting gift for self defense, and somehow remain neutral on our own island continent and be a voice of reason in the world.

There has to be a better way than the path we're heading down.