Source : Perth Now news
In a display of sports diplomacy, Anthony Albanese and key Pacific leaders will be among the tens of thousands packed into Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium for the State of Origin final this week.
Wednesday’s decider will cap off a day of security and trade-heavy talks between the Prime Minister and his Papua New Guinean and Tongan counterparts, James Marape and Lord Fakafanua.
It will also coincide with the official start date of Australia’s war pact with PNG.
“This important series of meetings in Brisbane comes at a time where we are working closely with our Pacific family on the issues that matter to our region,” Mr Albanese said.
“I am very much looking forward to hosting Pacific Leaders in Brisbane on Wednesday and attending the State of Origin with them.
“Through one of Australia’s favourite sporting codes, we are bringing our Pacific family closer together.”
The meeting will follow a diplomacy blitz in Fiji and the Solomon Islands.
In Fiji, Mr Albanese is expected to close the Vuvale Union following Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Pacific Affairs Minister Pat Conroy’s visit in May.
At the time, the ministers promised the Vuvale Union would be “a transformative agreement to strengthen strategic, economic and institutional co-operation between Fiji and Australia”.
Meanwhile, the Solomons visit comes after a diplomatic dry spell with the country, which has in recent months warmed to Australia after years of being courted by China.
During a visit to Canberra in early June, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale floated the idea of a Pacific-wide security treaty.
The Albanese government last week inked the stalled Nakamal Agreement with Vanuatu, dealing another blow to China’s hopes of a military foothold in the Pacific.
Touting it as “a balanced agreement that will protect our collective and individual security and our sovereignty”, Mr Albanese said the agreement “advances the consensus that security is the shared responsibility of the Pacific family, the members of the Pacific Island Forum”.
“It encapsulates Vanuatu’s sovereign decision not to permit its territory to be used for any foreign military base or infrastructure and that Vanuatu’s critical infrastructure remains free from militarisation,” he said.
The agreement was signed 10 months after Chinese pressure halted the original pitch, with members of Vanuatu’s government concerned the terms, which restricted foreign investment in Vanuatu’s critical infrastructure, would stop funds flowing from China.
Under the revised version Vanuatu can take cash from other countries but must “consult Australia on proposed third party engagement” in its critical infrastructure.
