5 May 2014

Pacific leaders meet in Cooks

1:52 pm on 5 May 2014

Pacific leaders are to meet in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands tomorrow to consider a plan to re-vitalise the push for regionalism.

It comes after a review of the Pacific Plan, the Pacific Islands' Forum formula for achieving integration and co-operation.

Don Wiseman has more:

"In its nearly ten years in place the Plan has achieved little and the review calls for to be jettisoned and replaced with what it calls a New Framework for Pacific Regionalism. The review team led by former Papua New Guinea Prime Minister, Sir Mekere Morauta, says this framework should have manageable priorities, that are timely, simple, transparent and inclusive. And it says these priorities cannot be imposed from the top down. It wants better quality staff at the Forum and for an organisation that is pro-active and business-like. The Forum says improving engagement and involving a broad range of Pacific society in the regional planning process will be discussed. The leaders of New Zealand and Australia will not be attending - In New Zealand's case Foreign Minister Murray McCully is there and Australian Parliamentary Secretary Brett Mason is representing Australia."