A Tongan women’s leader has described comments by Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack as “the ugly beast of colonialism.”
Ofakilevuka Guttenbeil-Likiliki of the Women and Children Crisis Centre has joined a chorus of criticism against McCormack, who has been condemned by political leaders in the Pacific and Australia for comments he made on climate change in the Pacific.
“They [Pacific Islanders] will continue to survive, there’s no question they’ll continue to survive and they’ll continue to survive on large aid assistance from Australia….They’ll continue to survive because many of their workers come here and pick our fruit, pick our fruit grown with hard Australian enterprise and endeavour,” McCormack said.
Guttenbeil-Likiliki said McCormack sounded like New Zealand broadcaster Heather du Plessis-Allan, who once described the Pacific Islands as leeches.
Guttenbeil-Likiliki said McCormack’s statements were “neo-colonialism at its best.”
“I read these neo-colonialist commentaries and I cringe because it’s nothing short of white supremacist domination – it is creating hate towards our Pacific peoples making them look like ‘leeches’ who should be ‘grateful’ and remain obedient and silent,” she said.
“Tell me, how will aid stop the sea level from rising? How will it stop displacement of communities? How will your aid prevent natural disasters across the Pacific? Are you also saying that the Pacific does nothing for Australia and that it’s just a one-way street?
“Think again. Who is getting richer on whose resources?”
Guttenbeil-Likiliki said she took comfort from the words of the late ‘Epeli Hau’ofa who said: “Oceania is vast, Oceania is expanding, Oceania is hospitable and generous, Oceania is humanity rising from the depths of brine and regions of fire deeper still, Oceania is us. We are the sea, we are the ocean, we must wake up to this ancient truth and together use it to overturn all hegemonic views that aim ultimately to confine us again, physically and psychologically, in the tiny spaces which we have resisted accepting as our sole appointed place, and from which we have recently liberated ourselves. We must not allow anyone to belittle us again, and take away our freedom”
“Ignorant”
McCormack’s comments have also been slammed by Australia’s acting opposition leader Richard Marles, who described them as “ignorant.”
Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australia must respect Pacific islanders’ concerns about the impact of global heating.
“Climate change and the consequences of it are an existential matter for the Pacific,” Turnbull said.
“If you are a Pacific islander and your home is going to be washed away by rising sea levels caused by global warming then this is not a political issue, it’s an existential one.
“So it’s critically important that we are seen to be helping climate change, both in reducing our emissions as part of a global effort, and of course as we do providing them with substantial resources to adapt to climate change.”
Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama reacted to McCormack’s comments by accusing the Australian government of taking a “big step backwards” in its relations with the Pacific.
Meanwhile, Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga reacted to McCormack’s comments by threatening to pull Tuvaluan labour from Australia’s seasonal worker programme.
Sopoaga said he would encourage the leaders of the other Pacific countries – including Kiribati, Samoa and Tonga – to do the same.
The main points
- Ofakilevuka Guttenbeil-Likiliki of the Women and Children Crisis Centre in Tonga has described comments by Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack as “the ugly beast of colonialism.”
- McCormack has been criticised for comments on climate change in the Pacific he made after critical talks at the Pacific Islands Forum that almost collapsed over Australia’s positions on coal and climate change.
For more information
Fiji prime minister slams Australia’s deputy PM over ‘fruit picking’ comment
Tuvalu condemns Australia’s conduct, ‘neo-colonial’ attitude at Pacific Islands Forum
