Howard's Pacific Colonialism. Who Benefits?

[Violet_Crumble]

by Iggy Kim
August 20, 2003
Buoyed by its run of international adventures, the Howard government is now pushing a policy of more direct government and mili-tary intervention into Australian's own "patch", the southwest Pacific.

Barely had the Solomons intervention begun, John Howard was already talking up a plan to strengthen Australian domination over the countries of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

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The view being promoted by the corporate media is that Australia is intervening into the southwest Pacific only after having taken a typically benevolent hands-off approach, accompanied by a cornucopia of generous aid.

This is a lie that conceals Australia's ex-ploitative role and promotes the racist idea that the Pacific peoples can't govern them-selves.

The roots of poverty in the region are the double burden of a legacy of long colonial oppression and neocolonial exploitation in which formal independence has disguised the continuation - and often stepping up - of economic domination and dependence.

For example, the Australian-owned Gold Ridge mine in the Solomons, which opened in 1998, doled out a mere 3% of royalty pay-ments to the Solomons, divided between three parties: 1.5% to the central government, 0.3% to the Guadalcanal province, and 1.2% to the landowners.

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=40&ItemID=4071

[Zuni]

1. Z-Mag's excuse for every problem

in the Third World is 'a legacy of colonialsm' or 'neo-imperialism'.
I think it is kind of ridiculous to say that all or most of the problems in the Solomon Islands are Australia's fault.

Furthermore i think Australia should have a right to police the 'neighborhood' down there, as no one else can or will. Some of these islands could become infested with terrorism, as Indonesia, malaysia and the Phillipines have sizable Al-Q related cells waiting to strike out at Australia for revenge over East Timor's independence.
Some of these smaller Islands in the solomons, or other chains could turn into a new somalia or Afghanistan.

I guess i tend to see issues differently from the hard left.

[bemildred]

2. Yep, I rectum so.