Ian Johnstone - New Flags Flying: Pacific Leadership

BY SIR ANAND SATYANAND

The vast Pacific Islands region covers nearly 30 million square kilometres of sea. It is home to some 13 million people in New Zealand and the other island countries, apart from Australia and Hawaii. The total, albeit sparsely flung, land mass is some 550,000 square kilometres, more than two-thirds being Papua New Guinea. The people living in the Pacific speak more than 800 languages, again most of these based in Papua New Guinea. The area is subject to many natural disasters, such as recurring cyclones, floods, earthquakes and droughts. The man-made difficulties include, without dwelling in detail, differing governance and institutional arrangements, irregular legislation, and the proximity of corruption yet abiding and substantial coping mechanisms keep things in operation despite these huge challenges.

New Flags Flying Pacific Leadership brings together in one collection the hopes and voices of many of the regions first leaders following the achievement of self-government or independence during the past fifty years. The editors, each of whom has had some kind of professional or personal association with the Pacific, capture the viewpoints of many of those leaders like Sir Tom Davis of the Cook Islands, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara of Fiji, Sir Peter Kenilorea of Solomon Islands, King Taufaahau Tupou IV of Tonga and Father Walter Lini of Vanuatu, to name just a few.

The hopes and aspirations expressed by these office holders for their people are special.

Many issues, including their own upbringing, are canvassed. These include their description of the attitudes and treatment of the colonial powers, the moves to self-government and independence, and their hopes and fears for an independent future. As new Pacific leaders face new challenges, the hopes and aspirations of their forebears can sometimes provide valuable guidance.

The aspect of continuance of connection is borne out by observing that many of the Pacifics leaders of the present and very recent past, such as Dr Feleti Sevele, former Prime Minister of Tonga, and Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa, undertook parts of their education in New Zealand.

In my view, as very much a Pacific person myself, the work will make a significant and lasting contribution to knowledge of the issues which faced the region in the past and which in a number of ways endure to the present.

The book will be a valuable resource for students and academics interested in the Pacific and development studies, and will provide a challenge for politicians and policymakers throughout the region to play their best game.

I congratulate the editors and commend their initiative.

Anand Satyanand

February 2012, Wellington

Rt. Hon. Sir Anand Satyanand was born in Auckland New Zealand to parents from Fiji whose own parents had come from India. He also has family links with Samoa. A lawyer, judge and ombudsman in his time before serving as New Zealands Governor-General for five years, he maintains a number of associations with other Pacific countries.