Climate, security top Albanese’s Pacific forum agenda
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese will travel to Fiji this week for his latest diplomatic venture to meet with Pacific Island leaders.
Action on climate change and ensuring Australia remains the security partner of choice for Pacific nations are two topics likely to be on the agenda.
The Pacific Islands Forum in Suva will bring together leaders from 18 member nations including New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Tuvalu.
The prime minister said it was in the national interest for him to attend the forum and he was looking forward to discussing the friendship between Australia and the Pacific.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said it was important for Mr Albanese to attend.
“There’s a strong foundation for Anthony Albanese to work off … and at this time with security and other factors and the economic recovery for the Pacific from the COVID-19 shocks of such significance, this is absolutely an important meeting,” he told Sky News.
“He should seek the opportunity provided by this Pacific Islands Forum meeting to establish the type of personal relations and good relations with Pacific Island leaders that Scott Morrison also prioritised.”
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The new government has previously criticised their predecessors for “dropping the ball” in the Pacific.
The prime minister said since the election in May he had sensed a feeling of relief from Pacific leaders.
“It’s been noticed around the world, not the least in our region, that Australia is now a participant in the constructive action that is required globally to deal with the challenge of climate change,” he told reporters on Friday.
Since his election, Albanese has travelled to Japan, Indonesia, Spain, France and Ukraine to meet world leaders and advance Australia’s standing on the international stage.
His latest trip comes after South Australian Senator and Foreign Minister Penny Wong
Met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Bali on Friday.
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Senator Wong afterwards described the meeting as an important first step, but said stabilising the countries’ relationship would take time and effort.
“We both recognised it is a first step for both our nations,” she told reporters on Friday.
“We’ve got a path to walk and we’ll see if it can lead to a better place between the two countries.”
Wang expressed hope that Australia could “seize the opportunity, take concrete actions and come to a correct understanding of China”, according to a summary published by China’s foreign ministry on Saturday.
“The root cause of the difficulties in Chinese and Australian relations in recent years lies in the insistence of previous Australian governments to treat China as an ‘opponent’ and even a ‘threat’,” Wang said.
Wang told Senator Wong that China was conducting “equal exchange and cooperation” with sovereign island nations based on their requests and needs, the Chinese foreign ministry said.
China has issued trade sanctions against many Australian products including wine, beef and coal.
It has also signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands and seeks similar deals with other Pacific nations.
– AAP & Reuters
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