Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 12, 1 December 1992 — Thirty-second South Pacific Conference, Suva, Fiji, Oct. 26-30, 1992 [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Thirty-second South Pacific Conference, Suva, Fiji, Oct. 26-30, 1992

Abraham Aiona Trustee, Maui First of all, mahalo to the chairman for allowing me to attend the Thirīy-

S e e o n d S o u t h P a e i f i e Conference, "Cultural Diversity & Heritage" in Suva, Fiji. This was my second eon-

ference, having attended last year s conference in Tonga with Trustee Moses Keale. Very briefly, the South Pacific Commission (SPC) has been in existence for about 45 years and has been successfully providing technical assistance to the Pacific islands since it was established by the Allied Powers to help development. The voice of the island people throughout the South Pacific began to be heard in the 1960s. The original members were Australia, France, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The SPC now also includes 22 island countries and territories encompassing Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, and repre-

senting five million people scattered over 30 million kilometers. SPC headquarters are in Noumea, New Caledonia, and the new headquarters to be built there was mueh discusssed. The headquarters may cost as mueh as $20 million and should be completed in two years. The architects have done a tremendous job, and we were able to see a scale model at the conference. The independence of SPC members was evidenced by the vote on the headquarters location. Although Fiji had assured everyone that they would be able to pay for the building and also move personnel to Fiji, the members decided to keep the SPC headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia. At the opening of the conference, the Prime Minister of Fiji, the Honorable Sitiveni Rabuka, took a strong position that the organization must respond to rapidly changing times. As new challenges and needs arise, SPC must assist with stability and provide intellectual memory. Rabuka also said the commission is the oldest and largest organization in the Pacific and is synonymous with providing information and advice across a wide sector. I agreeded with his comment, that the nations within the Pacific Basin area might consider

removing borders that hamper the movement of people from one eountry to another. He suggested a eommon passport issued to visitors to travel without disruption. The outgoing secretary general asked all of the Pacific island states to restrain their national desire for change: that if change comes, it must be done slowly. He was very critical of the nations that had made rapid eeonomie development a priority to the detriment of their peoples with its consequent. As a consequence, they were hurting the people of their island state. The environmental degradation, crime rate, congested urban areas, and broken families. I look at our own islands and see what development has done over the period of years. Many of us have lost some of our culture and our language. In my estimation, if you lose both your culture and your language,you lose your identity. The budget was heavily discussed at the conference. The delegates were very concerned that the current deficit would increase substantially. In fact, the metropolitan powers that eontribute the most, such as Australia and New Zealand, whieh were so eoncerned about the budget deficit that they requested a delay on voting for the new secretary general. The eon-

ference then went into executive session," to consider the appointment of the new secretary general, Mr. Sokomanu, former president of Vanuatu. The conference agreed to bring on a management team to reduce the deficit and control spending. France, a major SPC player, had warned that if the proposed management reforms were not implemented, it would reconsider the amount of its contributions to the SPC. Australia also expressed a similar eoneem. One of the things I have learned in both SPC conferences is the "Pacific way," whieh means getting the eonsensus of all of the people who are concerned or have a vote in a matter. Prime Minister Rabuka said, "The Pacific way is the reality." It rejects the futility of confrontation and chooses the path of dialogue and eonference. I find this so refreshing instead of the Western way of voting it up or down without enough dialogue and without consultation, even going into recess for long periods of time. I was impressed by how the conferees handled the publicity given to a statement made by George Sokomanu, the new secretary general. continued page 23