Pacific mentors or brutal enforcers?

This was published 13 years ago

Pacific mentors or brutal enforcers?

I WAS with the Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare, in his Honiara office early last Wednesday when the first of many frantic telephone calls came. The Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) had bundled the Immigration Minister, Peter Shanel, into a paddy wagon and taken him to a cell for questioning. The reason was not known.

The local newspaper, The Solomon Star, was one step ahead of the Prime Minister. Its photographer was on hand to take humiliating photos of Shanel walking towards the cells with head bowed, dominated by two burly Australian Federal Police officers seconded to RAMSI. Even mere public prosecutors accused of computer sex-related offences are treated with more respect in Australia.

Initial attempts by the Solomon Islands Government to send a lawyer to represent Shanel were blocked. The lawyer was denied access on the ground that he would be in a "conflict situation" because he had previously appeared on behalf of Julian Moti.


It would be most unusual in Australia for a lawyer to be denied access to an arrested client under similar circumstances. Eventually, three lawyers were allowed to see the minister.




On the same Wednesday morning, I was discussing with Sogavare perceived problems caused by an AusAID-funded barrister from Victoria who had been acting as Solicitor-General for the Solomon Islands Government.

Earlier last week, during one of the court hearings about the Moti passport and visa prosecution, the defence produced a letter dated October 8 from Shanel, as Minister for Immigration, allowing Moti to enter the country without a visa, his passport having been cancelled by Australia. Such power is available to the minister under the relevant legislation.

The Solicitor-General alleged to the court that the October 8 letter could be a forgery and ought to be suppressed, which the court refused. Nevertheless, the matter was given some prominence in the local and international media, thus adversely affecting the Government's standing. It is not clear why the Solicitor-General became involved in this issue instead of the Public Prosecutor.

The Prime Minister was clearly not happy at this turn of events and considered taking action against the Solicitor-General.

Shanel's detention meant the Government was distracted from its proposed course of action. It now turns out that the Solicitor-General is making his way home to Melbourne of his own volition, in what some see as a pre-emptive resignation.

The Solomon Islands Government finds itself without an attorney-general or a solicitor-general.

Under its laws, the attorney-general is required to be present (as a legal adviser) at any cabinet meeting. The attorney-general is not a minister but a legal adviser - contrary to what Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer, has stated in the recent past.

One may now understand why cabinet ministers in places such as the Solomon Islands often have difficulties with the business of government, as they are often deprived of competent legal advisers in whom they can trust.

The next matter to be resolved that morning was the issue of the Police Commissioner, Shane Castles, who had pitted himself against Shanel.

The Melanesian non-confrontational solution was applied: Australia was asked to transfer the substantial salary subsidy (believed to be more than $120,000) paid to Castles by way of "technical assistance" and instead to pay an equivalent amount into the Solomon Islands public health system.

With this subsidy removed, Castles will have to live on less than $20,000, which is the normal salary paid to the police commissioner by the Solomon Islands Government.

This tale may help illustrate one little-known aspect of Australian aid in the Pacific Islands. It is not just a matter of hundreds of millions of dollars being thrown at a problem.

If Australia wants to turn countries such as the Solomon Islands into transparent democracies in Australia's self-image (that is, where the principles of the rule of law are applied and respected), then Australia ought to ensure that the "experts" sent to these countries are themselves meticulous upholders of the principles of the rule of law.

We cannot afford to cut corners simply because it may be in Australia's short-term benefit.

We ought to be perceived in such countries as gentle mentors, not brutal enforcers more willing to kick doors when serving a search warrant than to ask whether there is a key available to open the door.

Unless we quickly change our ways, we will find access to our own backyard blocked.

The Sydney barrister Roger de Robillard is a legal adviser to the Solomons' Government.

Most Viewed in National