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As Pacific countries prepare to face the arrival of coronavirus on their shores, support from Australia is "missing in action", according to the federal Opposition.
Key points:
- Australia has given some support to Pacific nations to help prepare for coronavirus
- But Labor says this does not go far enough given the risk the pandemic poses
- There are six confirmed cases in the region so far
There are fears a significant outbreak could overwhelm the limited health systems in most Pacific nations.
Australia has offered some support with laboratory tests, protective equipment and technical advice for civil servants.
But critics say it is limited in scope compared to the scale of the potential health crisis in the region, with the Minister for the Pacific, Alex Hawke, being blamed for the shortfall.
"He's missing in action in terms of basic provision of public information," Opposition spokesman for the Pacific Pat Conroy said.
"Minister Hawke is the public face of the government's Pacific Step-up, and unfortunately he's in witness protection."
Australia 'missing' as NZ, China fill the void
Two weeks ago the Federal Government announced a few details of support for the Pacific to deal with coronavirus.
That included medical equipment and testing for several countries, as well as support for civil servants in half a dozen nations to assist with planning, surveillance and communication.
Australia and New Zealand are jointly funding the World Health Organisation's Pacific response plan, at a cost of around $1 million.
"They undoubtedly will help, but much more needs to be done," said Mr Conroy.
He pointed to changes to aid spending that have seen funding in the Pacific shift from health and education programs to infrastructure.
"Total health funding to the Pacific between 2014 and 2018 was cut by 10 per cent," he said.
"So, while we're providing some short-term assistance to deal with this crisis, it's on the back of significant cuts to health assistance to the Pacific."
The ABC has made repeated requests for interviews with Mr Hawke in recent weeks. He has not made himself available to discuss the Government's efforts.
Your questions on coronavirus answered:
In contrast, New Zealand's Pacific Minister Aupito Sio has appeared regularly in the media to explain the details of New Zealand's policies.
Officials in Beijing have also detailed China's efforts to work directly with Pacific medical staff.
Mr Conroy has warned the lack of support could damage the Government's 'Pacific Step-up,' which aims to curb China's influence in the region.
"If we've lost the public face of the Pacific Step-up, it's pretty hard for the rest of the Pacific to engage with us."
Pacific borders tighten after first cases
So far, six cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the Pacific, three each in French Polynesia and Guam.
The response of Pacific countries has been varied, but most have imposed some form of border restrictions.
In Fiji, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama is imposing strict conditions on travel.
Cruise ships have been banned from docking, international events have been cancelled and foreign visitors are banned from attending local events.
Fijians have been urged to cancel overseas trips and to stop the customary practice of drinking kava from communal bowls.
"We must take advantage of this precious time we have been blessed with by acting now to reduce the chance of this virus spreading," Mr Bainimarama said at the weekend.
"The sobering reality is that while we are yet to see a case in our country, our population is already vulnerable to coronavirus."
What the experts are saying about coronavirus:
Jonathan Pryke, the director of Lowy Institute's Pacific Islands Program, told the ABC's The World such measures would help in the short term.
"At the moment the Pacific island countries are trying to isolate themselves, put the walls up," he said.
"[But] how long can that last in countries that, whilst remote, whilst isolated, are dependent on the outside world?"
He said health systems were already stretched and "Australia needs to really be working with these Pacific island countries to make sure they can appropriately test for the virus."
"Even if you can't treat the people, you can at least isolate them to prevent the spread."
Fragile economies on the line
As well as the potential for a humanitarian disaster, a coronavirus outbreak in the Pacific could cause an economic crisis.
Many nations in the South Pacific rely heavily on tourism, which has been decimated by the restrictions on international movements and travellers' fears of infection.
Other nations, such as Papua New Guinea, rely on exports from the resources sector, which will inevitably be affected by the global economic downturn.
"Economically, socially, the Pacific is a very vulnerable part of the world," said Mr Pryke, pointing out they are also some of "the most tourism-dependent economies in the world."
Banning cruise ships "is going to have a huge cost on these economies," he added.
"It doesn't matter even if they don't get any cases in the Pacific, what matters is what happens in Australia, what happens in New Zealand, the major sending countries of this tourism."
Mr Pryke suggested the Australian Government could look at bolstering aid to the region, or offering short-term loans similar to the one provided to PNG late last year.
The potential economic impact for Pacific countries is described by Labor's Pat Conroy in one word: "Dire."
"A lot of Pacific island nations really rely on two industries — one being fishing, the other being tourism," he said.
"So taking away tourism at the same time as climate change is impacting on fishing really is a massive, massive challenge.
"We do need to think profoundly as a nation how we support the economic re-building of this region."
Topics: diseases-and-disorders, infectious-diseases-other, epidemics-and-pandemics, world-politics, foreign-affairs, foreign-aid, tourism, government-and-politics, pacific, australia