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The Sorry Failure in the Solomons

Saturday, 22 April, 2006

It was eight days ago that AusAID, the foreign aid arm of the Department of Foreign Affairs, published its report Solomon Islands – Transitional Country Strategy 2006 to mid2007 explaining how and why it is spending $247 million this year of taxpayers money. “A stable security environment and the rule of law are critical foundations for broader development in Solomon Islands,” the authors wrote before commenting: “Since 2003, Australia ’s assistance through RAMSI has helped to reinstate stability, restore the effective functioning of the court system …”

The television pictures this week clearly showed the stability as policemen retreated, the security as rioters ran amok and the rule of law as Australian troops began patrolling the burned out buildings. The Australian attempt to play big brother in the Pacific has turned out to be an expensive fraud with the only apparent difference between now and the troubles which preceded Australian intervention being the absence of firearms among the rioters. Thankfully the military confiscated most of those before returning to Townsville last year.

Anyone really interested in the balderdash that passes for planning in our Foreign Affairs department should download the full report from http://www.ausaid.gov.au/publications/pdf/solomons06_07.pdf but the following extracts give the flavour:

Australia ’s partnership with Solomon Islands reflects our commitment to ensuring aid effectiveness in a fragile state by addressing security, development, economic and political issues in an integrated, comprehensive and sequenced way. Australia is helping the Solomon Islands Government to meet its most critical challenges – laying the foundations for long-term stability, security and prosperity – through support for improved law, justice and security, for more effective, accountable and democratic government, for stronger, broad-based economic growth and for enhanced service delivery, particularly in the health sector. …

Since 2003 RAMSI and donors have focused on supporting the efforts of the Solomon Islands Government to establish a more accountable, efficient, effective and responsive system of government. The reform program is wide ranging and comprehensive, supporting both national and provincial levels of government, building an articulate and informed civil society, and creating demand for good governance through civic and community engagement, in recognition of the interrelationship of state and society in fostering effective governance. Improvements in governance since 2004 have been considerable. However, the capacity of government and civil society remains weak and access to services and government information uneven. …

But don’t worry. The work has been very politically correct. Due concern has been shown to providing “provincial workshops and programs on participatory community management, with a focus on women and young people.” The success of “initiatives implemented to promote harmony both within and between communities” is now obvious. The key transitional outcome of “conflict resolution training delivered in a number of villages/communities” was obviously worth the consultant’s fee.

The cost of AusAID’s work over the four years 2005–06 to 2008–09 will reach a minimum of A$841 million.

Labor should forget about trying to get Alexander Downer sacked over the AWB paying kickbacks to Iraq and move on to the real foreign affairs scandal which is the waste of the $247 million being spent this year by his department to lay "the foundations for long-term stability, security and prosperity" in the Solomon Islands . The dispatch this morning of another load of troops serves to illustrate the extent of the Foreign Affairs Department failure in Australia 's Pacific back yard.