The Small Pacific Voice Rising Louder Than Our Own

This week, the parliament of the small island nation of Tuvalu – with overwhelming support from its citizens – unanimously passed the Constitution of Tuvalu Bill 2023, adopting some of the most socially and politically innovative reforms ever seen in any national charter.

Progressive reforms like this will come as no surprise for those who know and follow the politics of the country. For a place whose geographical footprint consists of only 26 square kilometres (excluding maritime boundaries) made up of 3 reef islands and 6 true atolls, Tuvalu has always boxed above its weight division on the geopolitical stage. With much of its territory under critical threat from the impacts of climate change such as intensified weather events, rising sea levels and increased salination of groundwater, Tuvalu has been one of the most vocal advocates for more needing to be done to address the climate crisis.

The sorts of constitutional reforms which Tuvaluans have adopted as part of the recent Bill seek to remedy various shortcomings in the previous iteration of the document, including:

·         the need to enhance protection of religious freedoms and beliefs;

·         the need to address the fact that the document had previously been silent on gender;

·         recognition of the need to protect the rights of marginalised populations such as the disabled;

·         the desire to codify the country’s stance on the preservation of terrestrial and aquatic environments and the existential threat posed to its sovereignty by the impacts of climate change; and

·         recognising that the stability of Tuvaluan society and the happiness and welfare of the people of Tuvalu, both present and future, depend very largely on the maintenance of Tuvaluan values, culture and tradition.

This is not the first time Tuvalu has amended its Constitution but these new reforms can hardly be seen as minor. After the country became independent from the British monarchy in 1975, Tuvalu adopted an independent constitution. Tuvaluans then adopted further constitutional reforms in 1986. However, what is unique about the latest reforms adopted by the country as part of the 2023 Bill is that the changes were made in order to ensure the document remained in-touch with changing attitudes towards social, cultural and environmental issues over recent decades. Within the preamble, the Bill says as much, recognising that while the existing Constitution “…has served the people of Tuvalu well since Independence but must now, more than forty years since its adoption, be reconsidered in the light of our history, world affairs and development, and our present and future needs.”

There are lessons for Australia in the actions of Tuvalu as we head to the polls to vote to change our own constitution. What Tuvalu have shown us is that a nation of under 20,000 people – which, like much of Australia, is deeply loyal to the Christian faith and many of the socially conservative values that come with it – can pass a series of monumental social reforms to its founding document without the need for public debate to descend into an ugly dogfight. This proves that reasonable constitutional change, which responds to contemporary developments in societal ideologies, should not be hard. It should provide the perfect example for a nation of 25 million, which adores spruiking itself as “multicultural” and “the land of the fair go” to pass a simple reform to amend a +120 year old document to give basic recognition to the people who were here first.

Within Australian foreign affairs rhetoric, we love to refer to places like Tuvalu and other nearby Pacific nations as “Australia’s backyard” or “our Pacific neighbours”. If we actually cared to take a good look over the neighbours’ fence every once in a while we’d see that, in many respects, their garden is in fuller bloom than our own.

A ‘Yes’ vote for the Voice is a simple constitutional reform which is not only long, long overdue in this country, but which is also in keeping with the progressive steps already being taken by our neighbours in the Pacific. If Australia wants to be taken seriously by indigenous Pasifika peoples, we should start by recognising and protecting our own. We at PLN will be voting ‘Yes’. We hope you will too.