Introduction: Decolonisation was one of the United Nations’ greatest achievements in the 20th Century, but the process of self-determination began late in the islands region and remains incomplete today. The legacies of colonialism still impact on Pacific regionalism. The issue of political independence was a central element in the establishment of the South Pacific Forum in 1971. Decolonisation was central to the Forum’s collective diplomacy throughout the 1980s, but attention to the issue has waned.