Selective Securitization: Navigating Australia’s Climate Mobility Policy in the Pacific

This article critically examines Australia’s approach to climate-induced mobility through the lens of securitization theory, focusing on whether and how Australia constructs climate mobility as a security issue. While irregular migration has long been securitized in Australian policy, climate change has received inconsistent security framing, and climate-related displacement remains unaddressed in legal or strategic terms. Drawing on policy analysis and expert interviews, the study examines how these divergent securitizations logics shape three major initiatives, the Pacific Step-Up, the Pacific Engagement Visa, and the 2023 Falepili Union treaty. Findings show that labour mobility programmes, though framed as regional climate resilience measures, primarily serve Australia’s domestic labour and geopolitical interests. The Falepili Union marks a partial normative shift, explicitly recognizing climate mobility as “mobility with dignity,” signalling an emerging regional governance model that integrates adaptation and sovereignty. The study concludes that Australia’s bifurcated approach remains burdened by inconsistent climate commitments, securitized migration logics, and colonial hierarchies, yet recent initiatives demonstrate the potential for planned, rights-based, and relational mobility frameworks. Achieving this requires a paradigm shift from reactive, control-oriented immigration policy policies to collaborative, forward-looking strategies that centre on dignity, agency, and shared regional responsibility, to ensure stable economic progress and long-term sustainability.