theangle.org

Tuvalu protesters Copenhagen. Credit: Greenpeace Finland

The year 2009 was a significant year in our region’s politics.

However when one examines the huge amount of discourse that has occurred between the region’s nations, one could be forgiven for thinking that not much has happened.  But how can this be reconciled with the opening comment that it has been a significant year in our region’s politics?

There are many things to consider about the region during the past year.

New Zealand’s conservative government is still new enough not to have done major damage to its public profile, though some would say the uneasy union between the conservatives and the hardline Maori Party is a major source of embarrassment for the conservatives.  In addition to this, the Government is still not winning any friends despite their apparent efforts to repair the country’s rocky economy.  The NZ conservatives unfortunately derive their “expertise” from Australia’s Liberal Party, including copying their economic policies and the conservatives are implementing failed and faulty policies used by the Howard Government to protect the big end of town, effectively attempting to circumvent the real issues facing the country.

Some will argue that the new conservative government is repairing the many years damage caused by the former Labour government.  Others will counter that the ALP provides support and assistance to NZ’s Labour Party in the same way the conservatives provide support across the ditch. The heavy Australian influence here should be noted.

In Fiji, the military is still in control and maintains a very stand off-ish position with regard to the international community.  (The part of the international community it is most stand off-ish with is Australia.) Despite the repeated promises by the military Government to re-institute the constitution and hold open, fair and transparent elections, there is very little to illustrate these promises will be fulfilled anytime soon. Again note Australia’s role in Fiji’s politics.

Indonesia’s new government under the leadership of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono continues although there are increasing domestic criticism on how he is dealing with the natural disasters and corruption in the country, both of which remain significant impediments to the nation’s growth and development.  Besides the international pressure to improve human rights and Indonesia’s environmental degradation, the country remains trapped in domestic affairs and dealing with its indebtedness to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Papua and Bougainville remain basket cases with the respective national and regional governments seemingly incapable of dealing with social, environmental and economic problems. In fact in most cases they are compounding the problem. Australia has again been active in these areas.

Tuvalu and the other Pacific nations have attempted to “punch above their weight” with the turbulent negotiations surrounding climate change.  The outcomes from Copenhagen were not necessarily that great for the tiny island nations as they continue to watch their countries be engulfed by the seas. The small Pacific nations were at the forefront of the attempt to gain agreement to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. The proposal was defeated by developed nations with Australia accused of putting unreasonable pressure on the Pacific states.

And Australia continues to see itself as the regional sheriff.

One only needs to look to how Australia’s delegation were reportedly “bullying” our island nations friends to see that our leaders still view our role as the “sheriff” of the Southern Hemisphere.  Instead of attempting to subvert climate change negotiations in Copenhagen, more energy could be put into ending Japan’s illegal slaughter of rare and endangered whales.  Japan’s continued infringement in Australia’s territorial waters would surely be something worthwhile for the regional “sheriff” to act upon. And one can even look to the degree of Australian intervention in the region’s domestic, regional and international affairs – as noted throughout.

But what of the regional political landscape in 2010? See my next opinion piece for theangle.org.

Alex Schlotzer is a straight talker when it comes to politics and loves to vent his spleen. He is actively involved in Australian and international politics with a keen understanding of the dynamics of the political machine. Alex has a prolific online presence and has been a cyber activist for over 15 years. He can also be found at his blog and his exciting online project Australian Politics TV.