The Future of the Pacific Labour Market - Edited by Neil Plimmer

The Pacific Cooperation Foundation (PCF) held a conference on 29-30 June 2006, in its home city of Wellington, on the subject of this book, The Future of the Pacific Labour Market. There was a particular emphasis on the subtitle, Labour Mobility in the Pacific. Delegates represented international institutions, national governments, universities, trade unions, employer groups, community organisations, media and others, from 10 countries.

The PCF's intention was to bring forward the widest range of informed views and current research on the issues surrounding Pacific labour markets and mobility; to present and discuss these in a manner that would serve to inform the development of government policy; and to promote informed public awareness of the issues. The media reaction and the New Zealand public policy response in the months following the conference suggest that it succeeded in these objectives.

It was a particular wish of the PCF to hear the voices from Pacific Island countries on the many issues linked to labour mobility, and it is pleassing to record that this happened.

This publication does not purport to be a record of the proceedings of the conference, but is based on the major presentations made there.  Besides these papers, which are reproduced in slightly edited versions, the two days were marked by panel discussions, questions and comments by delegates, and much debate.

Additionally this book covers the key relevant developments that have taken place between the conference and publication, including related announcements by New Zealand and Australia at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting in Suva, Fiji, in October 2006.

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The Future of the Pacific Labour Market can be purchased from the Pacific Cooperation Foundation by visiting our website shop.

Pacific Futures – Edited by Michael Powles

As a region, the nations of the Pacific face continuing challenges to their economic, political, social and cultural survival. Recognising that the questions of regional change – whether to cooperate more closely or not - is a key item on the agenda of Pacific Islands Forum, this volume makes a timely and crucial contribution to the debate. Providing excellent arguments about the implications for more integrated regional governance – and the agendas behind attempts to push through these reforms, Pacific Futures is essential reading for those seeking to understand how the region can move forward.

In four sections, these essays address issues of governance, human rights and custom, law reform, language and culture loss, the potential for a single currency, labour mobility and development assistance. Written by academics and professionals from the region and beyond, the arguments are presented under the uniting theme of sovereignty and the idea of a Pacific community. Also including reflective contributions by some of the Pacific’s most widely respected leaders such as Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, Bishop Jabez Bryce, Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, Sir Mekere Morauta and Judge Tuiloma Neroni Slade, Pacific Futures sets a standard of discourse on regional development.

Founding chairman of New Zealand's Pacific Cooperation Foundation, Michael Powles was formerly New Zealand's ambassador to the United Nations and before that to China. Earlier, he lived and worked in the Pacific, including as a child in Samoa, as New Zealand's High Commissioner to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu and worked on human rights issues.

Pacific Futures is published in association with the Pacific Cooperation Foundation of New Zealand.

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Pacific Futures can be purchased from the Pacific Cooperation Foundation by visiting our website shop.

The Manipulation of Custom - By Jon Fraenkel

The Manipulation of Custom is the first full and comprehensive account of the crisis that has gripped the Solomon Islands since 1998.

The story begins with the 1998 Isatabu uprising on Guadalcanal and the eviction of thousands of Malaitan settlers from their homesteads on that island, continues by analysing the coup of June 2000 and the failure of the Townsville Peace Agreement of October 2000, and concludes with an investigation and assessment of the Autralian-led Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI).

Jon Fraenkel addresses several critical questions about the crisis - how and why it started, why it escalated so rapidly and continued for several years, and why successive governments were unable to disarm the militias and end the violence.

The central theme of the book is a critical investigation of the usage of appeals to Melanesian Kastom and 'compensation' demands throughout the crisis, and the way in which these were exploited by governments, failed politicians and militia leaders to bankrupt the Solomon Islands state.

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The Manipulation of Custom can bypurchased from the Pacific Cooperation Foundation by visiting our website shop.