The South Pacific

• Citizen of the South Pacific (2014–present)
  
• Citizen of The Rejected Realms (2021–present, with Karasonia)
  
• Member of the South Pacific's Council on Regional Security (2020–present)
  
• Former Minister of Regional Affairs of the South Pacific (2020)
  
• Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the South Pacific (2020)
  
• Former citizen of The North Pacific (2020–2021, with Winston Island)
  
• Former writer and editor at NationStates Today (2020)
  

How do you reconcile your promise of leadership, particularly in those areas where you refer to your term as Minister of Regional Affairs, with this?

Reading through your campaign, I can't help but see that there seems to be very little on your actual policy in here?

Other than points regarding our involvement with PfS, I see almost no policy or agenda in this campaign besides your rather vague statements about helping some of the ministers. (Which at this point is practically a boilerplate statement for PM campaigns in TSP.)

Right now I'm struggling to see much of any real substance here, even on your leadership role within Cabinet and the region.

Will you consider the creation of an endorsement tool similar to The North Pacific's 'Endorse the North Pacific' specifically for the South Pacific?

Would the South Pacific Government under your leadership commit to supporting a petition to NS moderation calling for the immediate removal of fascist regions?

As Prime Minister, would you authorise SPSF operations against regions that are formally allied with fascist regions but who may not be explicitly fascist themselves?

How would you boost activity in regional roleplay especially in the Treasure Island forum?

In my eyes, I see a lot of promises that begin with "I will __" and usually have some synonym of support thrown in there. Do you have any actual plan to support these Ministries, or are your statements just for show?

Thank you for your hard-hitting questions, I'd expect nothing less as a PM candidate.

(02-04-2021, 05:11 PM)Roavin Wrote: [ -> ]How do you reconcile your promise of leadership, particularly in those areas where you refer to your term as Minister of Regional Affairs, with this?

As it was then as it is now, I take full responsibility for the events that unfolded in the Ministry of Regional Affairs while I was the Minister in that term. I believe that inexperience, full-time dedication to ensuring Pacific-Con's success, and a host of other factors played a role in that incident. In the end, I resigned as Minister, not only for my own health as I said at the time, but also to make sure that another person could effectively run the MoRA.

Since the MoRA situation, I went on to serve a full term as Minister of Foreign Affairs, arguably the most important position in the South Pacific because of the GP stakes involved in being the MoFA, and I served without incident. Perhaps the most scandalous moment of my term in office was when I made a remark to The Rejected Times about the founder coup in Thalassia that drew the ire of leading officials in that region, but I believed the things I said about the situation in Thalassia, the need for them to uphold the very democratic principles they profess to have, needed to be said. To this day, I stand by the comments I made to TRT on Thalassia.

Ever since serving as the MoRA, I've had plenty of time to learn and grow and reflect on the mistakes I've made in the past. I could have thrown people under the bus and burned bridges with people in the MoRA situation, but I chose to assume full responsibility for the crisis that unfolded and took all the heat for it because that is what a leader does. I won't sit here and blame other people or try to deflect responsibility but instead take the punches as they come. I believe that is the hallmark of a leader.

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(02-04-2021, 05:17 PM)Farengeto Wrote: [ -> ]Reading through your campaign, I can't help but see that there seems to be very little on your actual policy in here?

Other than points regarding our involvement with PfS, I see almost no policy or agenda in this campaign besides your rather vague statements about helping some of the ministers. (Which at this point is practically a boilerplate statement for PM campaigns in TSP.)

Right now I'm struggling to see much of any real substance here, even on your leadership role within Cabinet and the region.

(02-04-2021, 05:35 PM)Rabbitz Wrote: [ -> ]In my eyes, I see a lot of promises that begin with "I will __" and usually have some synonym of support thrown in there. Do you have any actual plan to support these Ministries, or are your statements just for show?

Unfortunately, I can see that my initial campaign thread hasn't done me justice, so I'll try to rectify that in this response by going ministry to ministry on what I'd like to do in the upcoming term. First, I wish to state that I will approach this term with an overriding purpose that encompasses most of the ministries, which is the promotion and development of a defender agenda. We've had discussions before within the Assembly about what that could look like, even in ministries that may not even be involved in GP at first glance.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
I'm sure that my campaign made it clear what I hope to accomplish in the area of Foreign Affairs, but for good measure, I'll make sure to reiterate it. I hope to work with the MoFA to address the endorsement deficit with our friends in the PfS and see to the accession of regions committed to the principle of regional sovereignty while also making sure that we don't add troublesome regions to the Partnership that may doom it before it can truly take off.

Ministry of Culture
I believe that we can use the Ministry of Culture to promote defender values through noninvasive means. What I mean by that is seeing to the organization of PfS summits and festivals with the collaboration of the MoC. In holding these events, they will make sure that the PfS doesn't endure the decay and stagnation that the WALL experiences. However, I will also work with the MoC to organize intraregional events and activities that aren't necessarily related to the defender agenda. We could explore fun games such as scribbl.io and Among Us as a means to bring TSP closer together and have fun at a time when most of us can't go out and enjoy the things that we could have done before the pandemic.

Ministry of Engagement
I wanna start with TSP Encyclopedia because of its importance to me. For me, the wiki is my baby and was something I pitched back when I ran for MoRA, and it has really taken off since then. The RP community absolutely love the wiki and have contributed the most articles by far, so I'm really proud to see how far it's come along. Last year, it was an idea. This year, it is the norm. I hope to work with the MoE to ensure its continued development while also finishing up the dispatch project. Even though I might serve as the PM, I wouldn't mind the MoE giving me an assignment on the dispatch project as he has done in this term.

Ministry of Media
I believe that the defender agenda can really shine in this part of the regional government. I hope to work with the MoM to ensure the periodic publication of The Southern Journal and the publishing of articles that highlight the work that the SPSF is doing or making principled statements based on events occurring in GP. I want to use TSJ as a platform for sharing our values with the world and giving a much-needed voice for the defender cause. TSJ used to represent the best content in the NS media industry, and news orgs like NST and TRT have taken the reins since the last time TSJ was king. We need to change that by putting out top-notch content with strong editorial standards and adherence to a style guide while also establishing an editorial board that promotes the defender cause.

Ministry of Defense
Now that the PfS exists, I believe we can develop a multi-faceted relationship with its member regions to develop a military alliance that works together in R/D. We already cooperate with XKI and TRR militarily, but we can see to the development of new or stronger regional militaries in other member regions and put together an unbreakable and indivisible alliance that cooperates on a regular basis and prepares for grand-scale liberations. I believe that by doing all of this, we can share strategies and prepare each other for these operations that we all know will happen from time to time and allow people to become knowledgeable veterans in R/D.

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(02-04-2021, 05:34 PM)Langburn Wrote: [ -> ]Will you consider the creation of an endorsement tool similar to The North Pacific's 'Endorse the North Pacific' specifically for the South Pacific?

I'll admit, I don't have the technical know-how to develop an endorsement tool, but I have wholeheartedly supported the creation of one for a long time. I believe that The North Pacific's endo tool is one worthy of recognition and something to take inspiration from. I'd argue that it is because of the endo tool that TNP delegates of recent past have been able to accrue more than 1000 endorsements and retain them during lulls. Speaking of the endo tool, I should go ask Roavin for the nth time when we'll get one, even though I know the answer to that question.

(02-04-2021, 05:34 PM)Langburn Wrote: [ -> ]Would the South Pacific Government under your leadership commit to supporting a petition to NS moderation calling for the immediate removal of fascist regions?

I don't know why the NS moderators live in the 19th century, but I find it ludicrous that social media companies such as Twitter and Facebook can remove accounts and groups that promote hatred and violence, but NationStates moderators say their hands are tied or some other nonsense. The fact that regions can have "Nazi" in their names or promote hatred against Muslims, for example, is outrageous. So yes, I would support it.

(02-04-2021, 05:34 PM)Langburn Wrote: [ -> ]As Prime Minister, would you authorise SPSF operations against regions that are formally allied with fascist regions but who may not be explicitly fascist themselves?

According to Article X of the Charter, such operations would be illegal. The SPSF can only go after regions that espouse hateful ideologies or those that we are at war with. If you wish to expand what kind of regions the SPSF can go after, you'd need to propose a constitutional amendment. With that being said, no, I wouldn't authorize such ops anyway.

(02-04-2021, 05:34 PM)Langburn Wrote: [ -> ]How would you boost activity in regional roleplay especially in the Treasure Island forum?

When I started in the South Pacific, I spent many years in Treasure Island, so the RP community here has a special place in my heart. By that same token, however, we actively try to thread a thin line between the regional government and the RP community, and for good reason too. Back when I served as the MoRA, I helped co-organize Pacific-Con in early 2020 partially as a means to connect our RP community with sister communities in the other feeders. I believe that interregional RP festivals are a good way to boost regional activity in RP and give the greater NS world a taste of what we in TSP have to offer.

What will your leadership style be as Prime Minister? Will you the style floated by some, being hands-on and guiding Ministers with a unified agenda? Or will you stick to the traditional style and be relatively hands-off?

(02-06-2021, 11:59 AM)North Prarie Wrote: [ -> ]What will your leadership style be as Prime Minister? Will you the style floated by some, being hands-on and guiding Ministers with a unified agenda? Or will you stick to the traditional style and be relatively hands-off?

Considering the type of regional government the South Pacific has, I don't think leading one way or another would be productive. While I would like to pursue my defender agenda, which I hope to do in the upcoming term, I know that the rest of the Cabinet also have their own agenda too because they are elected, same as me. With that in mind, the way I will lead will be a hybrid of the two. I will try to incorporate and blend the priorities of each minister to make sure that we meet the overall agenda I have in mind. However, I will also afford the ministers enough autonomy to meet the goals they set for themselves during the campaign and those that become goals throughout the term.

Conflict of interest update: On 7 February, my citizenship application in The Rejected Realms was accepted, making me a citizen of the region.