Clark backs faster entry to hot spots

Prime Minister Helen Clark says Pacific leaders will back faster reaction to countries in trouble than they did in the Solomon Islands.

She wants to see the post of forum Secretary-General given similar authority to act in trouble spots as Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon.

She also wants to strengthen the authority of the Fiji-based secretariat, saying institutional strength in the forum is critical.

But she dismissed the establishment of a regional ready reaction force "at this stage".

The Solomons issue should have been addressed earlier, Helen Clark said yesterday after chairing the Pacific summit in Auckland.

"If we had had the Don McKinnon institutional strength that is associated with the Commonwealth secretariat, that would have been possible and the Solomons should not have gone right over the cliff."

The forum was dominated by the election of former Pacific diplomat Australian Greg Urwin as the next Secretary-General, the first non-Pacific Islander to hold the post.

Hosting and chairing is shared alphabetically and Helen Clark now heads the forum until the next one in Niue. Her immediate task will be to instigate a review of the forum role and secretariat - including the authority of the Secretary-General.

She said incumbent Secretary-General Noel Levi felt he had not had a strong enough mandate to be "proactive."

"I don't want to take a view on that, but let's make it absolutely clear that the Secretary-General is expected to be proactive. If we mandate a new direction, we expect proactive management of that."

As Commonwealth Secretary-General, Mr McKinnon not only has the ability to send in special missions and call for special attention to a trouble spot, but he is expected to do so.

Security in the Solomons has steadily deteriorated since a coup in 2000. The forum-backed regional assistance mission of 2250 defence personnel and police - from six countries - intervened only last month at the invitation of the Solomon Islands Government.

Helen Clark said there had been no discussion about a ready reaction force - despite a call for its establishment the previous week by the Melanesian Spearhead Group (Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia).

"We'd be looking for more pro-active engagement at an earlier stage with a country in trouble. That has been the tenor of the discussion rather than talking specifically about a ready reaction force at this point."

Australian Prime Minister John Howard believed the Auckland forum had been a "watershed".

"This body is seen as having new authority, new clout, new relevance, and everybody will go from this meeting feeling that they are part of something that will punch even harder and more effectively in the region."

Helen Clark vigorously defended Mr Howard against suggestions that Australia had heavy-handed expansionist plans in the Pacific.

"I don't think Australia has overplayed its hand at this forum. What I know is that where you have big states and little states it is always possible for perceptions to arise that big states are throwing their weight around.

"It is incumbent on big states to address perceptions and it is incumbent on smaller states to look at the merits of the issue and we are achieving a balance between the two."

She said it would be inaccurate to characterise Australia's interest in the Pacific as recent.

"Australia has always been interested. Australia was a founding member [of the forum]. I think at this forum it has played a very constructive role. It has announced new initiatives which have been appreciated by the forum island countries ... "

President Anote Tong, of Kiribati, described Helen Clark's chairing as "first class".

Mr McKinnon, a former Foreign Minister, received backing from 14 forum Commonwealth members for a second term.