ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the statecraft of the partner state that has long played the most active role in the Pacific Islands region: Australia. For decades, Australia has provided almost half of all aid to the region, led numerous humanitarian and disaster relief responses, and conducted a series of interventions in response to instability. Yet since 2018, Australia has made determined efforts to increase its statecraft in the region. This reflects Australia's growing anxiety about the strategic consequences of China's increasingly visible presence in a region that lies across some of its most important air and sea lanes of communication. This chapter outlines the nature of Australia's contemporary Pacific policy, which includes the deployment both of material tools of statecraft, such as infrastructure financing, security assistance, and aid, and ideational tools, particularly its adoption of the ‘Pacific family’ strategic narrative to justify its role and relationships in the region.
