Canberra has been engaging in what is dubbed the ‘Pacific step-up’ policy, but has to move carefully. The Pacific islanders are keenly aware of Australia’s colonial history and take a dim view of anything that might hint at paternalism. It helps to refer to places such as Vanuatu not as ‘small island nations’ but ‘large ocean states’, as the islands now prefer, based on their large, exclusive maritime zones. Depending on how you define the region the islands, including maritime zones, make up about 15 per cent of the world’s surface.
