This year, the Pacific Islands clearly featured much more vividly in Australian politics.

Near-state collapse in the Solomon Islands, matched with Beijing’s expedited  regional advances for a multilateral South Pacific security agreement, highlighted the ongoing fragility – and even growing assertiveness – of Australia’s Pacific neighbours.

Other events also included a region-wide chorus of Pacific politicians seeking a symbolic climate change response from Australia, not to mention the widely beamed chaos of the PNG elections, amplified through smart phones and sound Australian and PNG journalism.

The US Vice President further ceded, in unprecedented rhetoric, the United States’ strategic neglect of the region, announcing a US ‘step up’ of...