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Albanese declares Pacific mission a success – just don’t mention coal

Australia’s relationship with Pacific island nations has been strengthened after a meeting of regional leaders, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says.

Jul 15, 2022, updated Jul 15, 2022
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (back row, third from left) said he and other Pacific leaders were "working together on our common challenges to make our region stronger, more resilient and more prosperous". (Supplied image)

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (back row, third from left) said he and other Pacific leaders were "working together on our common challenges to make our region stronger, more resilient and more prosperous". (Supplied image)

The Pacific Islands Forum wrapped up in Suva, Fiji, on Thursday following an all-day leaders retreat.

Speaking in Suva on Friday, Albanese said Australia’s influence in the region had been “enhanced” following the summit.

“Our partnerships have been strengthened by this meeting, it was really constructive the way that we dealt with each other,” he said.

“Building up a relationship of trust isn’t something that just happens … and I’m very positive about going forward.”

Albanese said he had been invited to visit every one of the forum states and that the government’s minister for the Pacific, Pat Conroy, would respond to those invitations over the next 12 months.

The prime minister will depart Suva for home later on Friday after confirming plans for an Australia-Pacific labour mobility scheme, in particular for Fiji citizens.

“So what you will have is people participating in the Australian labour market for four years then returning, having increased skills, having access to the sorts of different experiences,” he said.

Albanese has pledged to make seasonal worker programs more attractive by allowing families to apply to travel together.

On Thursday, Albanese said there was regional support for the new Labor government’s climate policies and in particular its emissions reduction target.

“It was also reflected in every single one of the person-to-person dialogues I had with prime ministers and other leaders from our Pacific island neighbours,” he said.

But Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama cast doubt on that claim in a press conference after Thursday’s leaders’ summit.

“Throughout every meeting and discussion I’ve held this week, I have been clear and consistent in our asks for more ambitious climate commitments,” he said.

“Most urgently, it requires that we end our fossil fuel addiction, including coal. That is our ask of Australia.”

Bainimarama repeated his call for Australia to go further on Twitter.

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“Australia’s new climate pledge is a step-up that Fiji has long sought – but out of the duty I owe every young person in the Pacific, I have urged (Mr Albanese) to go further for our family’s shared future by aligning Australia’s commitment to the 1.5-degree target,” he posted.

Australia’s headline pledge is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, a target that some experts say is inconsistent with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celcius.

Nevertheless, Australia’s standing has improved since the last forum in Tuvalu attended by former coalition prime minister Scott Morrison in 2019 when there was a disagreement on responses to climate change.

Following Labor’s election win in May, Australia’s climate ambitions have extended to hosting a forthcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference on behalf of the Pacific.

“They (the forum members) all expressed support for the bid and you’ll see that reflected in the communique,” Albanese said on Thursday.

A line also appears to have been drawn under the Solomon Islands’ flirtation with closer security ties with China.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare told journalists an agreement signed earlier this year would not lead to a Chinese military facility being set up on Australia’s doorstep.

“The moment we establish a foreign military base, we immediately become an enemy. And we also put our country and our people as targets for potential military strikes,” he said.

“There is no military base, nor any other military facility, or institutions in the agreement.”

Albanese said on Friday the forum’s final communique made clear that while sovereign nations have the right to make their own decisions “we are responsible as a Pacific family for security”.

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