Discussions on the positives of Pacific regionalism often underplays that endearing yet mutually beneficial role played by education institutions and educators as that soft power instrument of foreign policy between the Pacific region and near neighbours Australia and New Zealand.
That movement of students and academics across our borders on scholarly pursuits has to be one of the most effective soft power instruments that offers options for change without military force or economic sanctions, as scholarly discourse shapes agendas on national, regional and world politics and builds lifelong friendships and scholarship.
The Pacific’s young, brightest and most passionate travel on overseas scholarships across shores to pursue higher education, while academic exchanges and scholarly specialist needs, sees academics take up positions at Pacific and ANZ Universities, and nowhere more so then at that melting pot of the Pacific’s future, the University of the South Pacific.
The premier regional university has been very well served by expatriate New Zealanders and Australians. Professor Vijay Naidu, USP Development Studies Professor, recalls that at one point in the late 1990s, USP boasted of being very cosmopolitan with staff who represented more than 40 nationalities.
Expatriate academics contributed immensely to teaching and learning, to research and publications, mentoring Pacific scholars and regional leaders. Many young expatriates began their academic careers at USP and have become leading scholars in universities abroad.
Among the many luminaries at USP, can be added the name of Professor Robbie Robertson. Robbie was born in 1952, in Gisbourne, New Zealand.
Early tertiary studies completed in Dunedin, a single parent, with eldest son Julian in tow, Robbie arrived at the Laucala Fiji Campus of USP in 1979 to teach history.
As a historian and later a Development Studies scholar he researched Fiji’s development trajectory and the interplay of class stratification and ethnic relations in Fiji’s contemporary politics.
He developed a keen interest in globalisation and how it impacted developing countries generally and PICs including Fiji in particular, Naidu recalls. USP was where he met partner, researcher and co-author, Akosita Tamanisau, or Jita to friends.
A life transformed, Robbie wrote on a posthumous pictorial he had prepared to share with friends on what shaped his life and scholarship.
Among the influential Pacific Island friendships, whose work continues to guide Pacific research and development, were Amelia Rokotuivuna, Vanessa Griffin, Professor Vijay Naidu, Shamima Ali, Sitiveni Ratuva, Satyendra Prasad, William and Helen Sutherland, Claire Slatter, Epeli Hau’ofa, Nicolai Michoutouchkine and Pilioki from Vanuatu, and many others that made scholarship at USP rich focused on change for a more just, independent and free Pacific.
The 1980s was a turbulent decade in the Pacific, and more so in the “faction ridden and often stressful USP”, Robbie wrote of his early tenure, as the Fiji Labour Party went on to win Fiji elections and Sitiveni Rabuka seized power in Fiji’s first military coup. When the 1987 coup took place, Robbie and Jita decided to write about the events.
Their final contribution to Devpolicy in February this year USP: remembering expulsions past provides a painful but poignant summary of their time with USP and the affront the Institution often faces thanks to Fiji’s turbulent politics.
“All news was censored, so to find out what was happening we would frequent certain bars where public servants and officers often hung out. Asking the odd question, but mostly listening to conversations, could provide some framework for understanding what was happening.”
Robbie and Jita were forced out of Fiji in 1988 after Fiji’s second coup.
“Initially I was given one day to leave, so we rushed around getting packers, and then quickly got married at the Registry. Then into hiding for a few days in case the military changed its mind. They didn’t. Eventually, we landed in Australia.”
Robbie and Jita’s child, Nemani, was born in 1990 and their new start with life at Bendigo in Australia.
When the ban was lifted , the two would return to Fiji in 1995, picking up old friendships and scholarly pursuits.
Robbie’s final sojourn with USP was as Professor and director of the Development Studies Program, where he made major scholarly contributions on Pacific regionalism, globalisation, and Fijian politics, co-authored again with partner Jita and Fijian/Australian ANU Scholar Dr Willian Sutherland.
This time however, and in his words: “I left ahead of the well advertised December 2006 coup.
Various academic stints thereafter saw him teaching at ANU, Swinburne, then James Cook University, where Robbie continued his writings and work with various Pacific Institutions.
Diagnosed with cancer in 2016, Robbie continued his stoic journey writing, while creating memories with his vast array of friends from across the globe. A later diagnosis of the aggressive pulmonary fibrosis wasn’t going to put any breaks in life either.
Students remembered Robbie as the well prepared lecturer and mentor, gentle in his disagreements, but resolute in his principles and passion for encouraging inquiring Pacific minds. His USP colleagues remember him as an amiable person who had strong interdisciplinary interests, and a commitment to progressive ideas.
“He was humble and contemplative, always supportive and congratulatory,” recalled Mereia Tavola
Carling whose Masters thesis Robbie marked.
“Dr Robertson’s lectures were not to be missed and his writings worth reading for its analysis of world politics,” recalled graduate student Milika Waqanibete.
Former colleague and Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Satyendra Prasad wrote: “I often recollect with fondness his great lectures on nationalism and Asia’s rise from 40 years ago for their currency today. Great teacher and an even greater man.”
Robbie’s scholarly contributions, an array of research on Fiji’s turbulent politics, of the regions development woes and contemporary misadventure.
On the challenge of writing Robbie wrote: … academia is also a demanding profession in terms of institutional politics and time for research, which gathers a hidden toll on family”.
His last project a response to the Ramsey Center and Tony Abbott’s‘ s declaration on the centrality of Western civilisation to world development titled Civilization or Globalisation? How we became Modern currently awaits publication.
On working in Fiji Robbie wrote: “Fiji changed me in ways that I think would never have been possible had I only lived in NZ or Australia. I have never looked at the world the same again.” And for those aspiring academics, writers, students across the region, he added: “I don’t know if I really succeeded as an academic, but I never stopped wanting to learn.”
And his final thoughts on our shared human journey Robbie wrote: “We make our own modernity and futures; we should not allow ourselves to be bound by civilisation, tradition, gender, genetics or race, etc….”
Reflecting on his lifetime, he added, the human population grew three fold, with huge environmental costs, climate change…when there has been many, nasty wars, mostly pointless, there has also been growing global prosperity and that rise of the IT revolution; all carry uncertainties but also much promise. It has been, corona virus aside, an exciting time to be alive.
Robbie Robertson passed away peacefully at his home in Melbourne on Thursday June 10 with friends and colleagues across the globe gathering for a zoom wake last Friday, November 5 to reflect on his life and contributions to Pacific/Fiji scholarship.
Parts of this tribute are based on a presentation Robbie put together to be shared posthumously.
A life well lived, Robbie’s publications on Fiji’s political follies remain for posterity. He is survived by his partner Akosita Tamanisau (Jita), and two sons Julian and Nemani.
- SADHANA SEN, a freelance journalist/ commentator and regional communications advisor with the Development Policy Centre, ANU. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper.
