Subsequent to my previous posting

Subsequent to my previous posting on Helpem Fren I got a heads up from Slats about Mary-Louise’s background. A bit of Googling tells me she is married to Joses Tuhanuku who was a minister in the national government of the Solomon Islands in the mid 1990s and for many years has been a trade union leader in his country. He is now studying at the ANU at the National Centre for Development Studies. In no way am I critical of this and I’m not suggesting anyone was trying to keep the matter hidden. I just thinks it’s important to know where people are coming from when they comment on an issue. It is only fair we should listen to the locals as they describe the background to the current problem. Not only fair, but I might add educational – for me at least. Read it all but note the speach by Mary-Louise’s husband Joses. It appears to be a time honoured case of the white man coming and all things changing. Well in light of the fact that white men of the time did come and that things did change and are changing now then we need to address todays problems and not dwell on their causes. In another mention, Joses comments on the role Australia should take. I note he doesn’t suggest we send over troops but I get the feeling he will find that acceptable. The Role of Australia 1. Australia can make a difference in the South Pacific Region. 2. Australia should take a more bold and decisive approach in the current situation in Solomon Islands. Whether Australia likes it or not, it is impossible for Australia to shy away from problems or leadership in the South Pacific. 3. Australia needs to have good people on the ground, to guarantee sound and accurate understanding of the situation back in Canberra. 4. Australia, and others who are already participating in the IPMT, should jointly send a police contingent under the auspices of the Commonwealth to assist the RSIP in implementing the TPA. 5. The current crises in Solomon Islands and Bougainville are feeding off each other, and therefore finding lasting solutions to both, can only be achieved if they are dealt with simultaneously. The full text is here Links to date are mostly from 2001. As I said background. Joses is the leader of the Solomon Islands Labour Party SILP and in the current Parliament (elections held 2001) the SILP has 1 seat. Yes. ONE seat. Why then is Joses’s hit rate on Google so heavy. I don’t know but he appears everywhere in seminars in Australia and in DFAT, ANU and ABC sites. Mind you the same sources says – note: in general, Solomon Islands politics is characterized by fluid coalitions. Whatever, he is the darling of the ABC and that in itself is cause for some concern. Curiouser and curiouser, to quote Alice. I look foward to developments as Aussie infantry and constabulary impact on beautiful downtown Honiara and surrounds.