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Australian Electoral Commission
Election officials from across the Pacific came together in Nuku’alofa, Kingdom of Tonga last week to discuss the shared challenges of running elections in the region.
The meeting of PIANZEA – a network of electoral administrators from the Pacific Islands, Australia, and New Zealand – is happening at a particularly interesting time, with over half of the world’s population going to the polls in 2024.
The meeting was hosted by the Electoral Commission, Kingdom of Tonga, and opened by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Tonga Tupouto’a ‘Ulukalala, who said he was “Here to join you to open the PIANZEA 2024 Senior Officials Meeting.”
His Royal Highness observed that global transfers of power were not always peaceful and emphasised the importance of coming together in support of democracy.
Chairman of the Electoral Commission of the Kingdom of Tonga, Rt. Hon. Lord Dalgety K.C. spoke about the importance of regional forums such as PIANZEA for democracy.
“We must strive to keep their [the public’s] faith in what we do.” Lord Dalgety said.
“Democracy has prevailed in all of our countries due to meetings such as this and PIANZEA training programs.”
PIANZEA Chair and Australia’s Deputy Electoral Commissioner, Jeff Pope, said, “PIANZEA members are responding to the shared challenges all election management bodies face globally delivering elections in complex environments.”
“PIANZEA is proud of the strong and enduring partnership between election management bodies in the Pacific, and the AEC is proud of Australia’s role in supporting the Network.”
Electoral management bodies (EMBs) from 13 countries participated in the meeting, covering a range of topics crucial to the delivery of free and fair elections in the region.
Background information
The PIANZEA Network (an acronym for Pacific Islands, Australia, and New Zealand Electoral Administrators) is comprised of EMBs from Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Timor-Leste (associate member). The Office of the Bougainville Electoral Commissioner (OBEC) are included in activities.
The Network was established on 10 October 1997 in Fiji. The Warwick Declaration founding document states:
[We] hereby unanimously and collectively declare that it is indeed our joint commitment to continue and maintain in the Pacific spirit, a close association of Pacific Electoral Administrators with a view to establishing a networking arrangement to facilitate and encourage the free flow of electoral information among member countries and to provide assistance where possible.
The PIANZEA Network is deeply valued by its members, respected across the Pacific, and is looked upon as a best practice model by other regions. Through PIANZEA, the Pacific region has a strong network of electoral administrators who are promoting democracy and good governance.
The Australian Electoral Commission has managed the PIANZEA Network Program for over twenty-five years, with the support of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
More information about the PIANZEA Network is available at www.pianzea.org.
The AEC acknowledges the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to land, waters, culture and community. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.