I’ve just added to the specialist section of the Troppo blogroll a blog started by frequent commenter Stan which examines the possibility of political union between the South Pacific island states, Australia and New Zealand. It’s called the South Pacific Federation Project. It’s an interesting idea, and Stan has clearly put a lot of work into it.
I suspect that an expanded CER-type arrangement (the free trade agreement between Australia and New Zealand) might be a useful place to start. After all, that’s essentially how the European Union began, with trust and mutual confidence growing slowly over time. The disparity in size and power between Australia and the small Pacific island states is likely to prove a substantial barrier to overcome. Feel free to discuss the issues here if you want, but make sure you post your thoughts on Stan’s blog as well.
BTW the Troppo blogroll of Australian political bloggers has just hit the 100 mark. As far as I can see, it’s the largest and most complete listing of Australian political blogs by quite a big margin. If your blog isn’t here, send me an email and I’ll add it. If you can be bothered, give me a short description to use in the tags, and tell me where you think your blog fits in the Troppo ideological scale.
Stan – it you’re out there: I assume you’re aware of Roger C. Thompson’s “Australian Imperialism in the Pacific, 1820-1920”?
It’s a brilliantly thorough and detailed history. I read it to marvel not only at Australia’s foreign policy at the time – and its big ideas – but the commitment of Thompson himself. He didn’t cut corners.
Maybe the failed experiment from those days will make a Federation difficult for a long time to come. Still, I’ve been wondering whether Australia would ever take on East Timor should she fail as a State in her own right. Why not? The Constitution allows – indeed, anticipates – such additions to some extent.
Tried to post at SouthPacifica but I’m not sure it worked.
Adios.
RWDB?? I know I’m probably asking too much to expect libertarians to have their own category* — but how do we rate as RWDBs? I’m anti-war, anti-Bush, anti-Howard, and I run the place. Our blog regularly features Jason Soon and Andrew Norton, who are ‘moderate right’ and other libertarians (c8to, michael jennings, scott wickstein, bargarz) has been classified as moderate right.
While some other libertarians have been called RWDBs (Tex, Bunyip, Yobbo), at least they were pro-war and pro-Tim Blair. Please, please, please take me out of the RWDB section! :\ :| :/
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* If you did want to create a ‘libertarian’ or ‘classical liberal’ section, you could include at least catallaxy, c8to, bargarz, michael jennings, scott wickstein, libertarians, bunyip, wackingday, yobbo, usurer (though that blog has finished) and probably several others. At least as big as the ‘centist’ section.
Thanks for the plug Ken, and thanks for the tip CL. Since I started examining this idea my ‘to read’ list has exploded, and you just made it bigger. Now if I could just stop reading other blogs and get stuck into it…
Ken, another one: Alex White’s Psephological Catechism.
The South Pacific Federation Project also has a spin-off News Journal called South Pacifica News.
The South Pacific Federation Project is a blog that discusses the possibility of political union between the South Pacific island states and possibly Australia and New Zealand. Any news from online sources applicable to that forum will be collected and posted at the News Journal.
Hope to see you there.