Democracy, Governance and Self-Determination in the Pacific roundtable with Lopeti Senituli

On 15th February, DTP International Advisory Council member Lopeti Senituli led a roundtable discussion at UNSW on Democracy, Governance and Self-Determination in the Pacific. Drawing on over three decades of experience working on human rights, democracy, self-determination and nuclear non-proliferation he highlighted struggles for self-determination for West Papua and Bougainville, and the current constitutional crisis in Tonga.

Lopeti has been one of the key civil society leaders in the Pacific, at the forefront of moving Tonga from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy, and in struggles around decolonisation, self-determination and peace.

Lopeti shared valuable insights as he covered the history of these movements in the Pacific, and the background of certain decisions. He outlined the linkages between the nuclear non-proliferation movements and the fights for self-determination in the region, with West Papua and Bougainville as two case studies – and the historic contributions of the churches and the trade union movement in the Pacific and Australia.

He also discussed the recent political crisis in Tonga and the relationship between the King and the Prime Minister. He discussed this further in an article earlier this week for the DevPolicy Blog.

The slides from his presentation can be viewed here.