Griffith In Asia

Host, Professor Renee Jeffery chats with Adjunct Associate Professor Tess Newton Cain, Griffith Asia Institute about her research, analysis and journey to studying the Pacific. During 2019 Tess led the research team that worked on ‘Pacific perspectives on the world: Listening to Australia’s island neighbours in order to build strong, respectful and sustainable relationships‘ that was published by The Whitlam Institute and Peacifica in February 2020. It draws on a rich set of data collected via focus groups and individual interviews with 150 people in Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. More broadly, ‘Pacific Perspectives’ is a descriptor for Tess’s work as a researcher, as an adviser to governments and regional organisations, and as an analyst who contributes to public debates on Pacific policy in Australia and elsewhere.