Sally Sara, Host: The Prime Minister joins regional leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum in Honiara today. Anthony Albanese hoped to sign a $500 million security and development agreement with Vanuatu yesterday on the way. But some local government MPs have baulked at the deal's details. Matt Thistlethwaite is the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and joins me now. Minister, welcome to Radio National Breakfast.
Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade: Good morning, Sally. Thanks for having me.
Sara: Before we focus on the Pacific, what is the Federal government's view of Israel's strike on the Hamas leadership at negotiations in Qatar?
Assistant Minister: These strikes violate Qatar's sovereignty and they imperil a ceasefire and the release of the Israeli hostages. And unfortunately they risk further escalation in the conflict. Qatar's been working quite hard behind the scenes alongside the United States and Egypt to try and broker a ceasefire and a release of hostages deal. So, these strikes will imperil that. Nonetheless, it's encouraging to hear Qatari leaders say that they remain committed to trying to broker an agreement in a ceasefire.
Sara: Was Australia given any specific information or details about these strikes from Israel?
Assistant Minister: No, we haven't been provided with any information. And the strikes do, in our view, violate Qatar's sovereignty and they imperil the ceasefire eventually being reached and a hostages deal and that risks further escalation. On that basis we condemn the strikes.
Sara: Returning to the Pacific. When did it become clear to the Federal government that Vanuatu wasn't going to sign this security and development agreement yesterday?
Assistant Minister: A couple of days ago, the Vanuatu government indicated to Australia that they weren't ready to sign the Nakamal agreement. Obviously Australia is committed to working with our partners in the Pacific on agreements such as this. But an important part of our involvement in the Pacific family is respect for Pacific nations sovereignty. And the Vanuatu government has indicated that they've got some internal processes that they need to finalise and go through and we respect that. It's all part of being a member of the Pacific family, having respect for and working with our Pacific neighbours, including Vanuatu.
Sara: But was it embarrassing for the Prime Minister to travel to Vanuatu for a non-deal?
Assistant Minister: No, because there was further dialogue between our nations and our leaders. That's important and we see that we're working towards getting an agreement and that's why the Prime Minister thought it was as valuable to continue to work with Vanuatu and we're hopeful that we'll be able to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.
Sara: Vanuatu's Prime Minister said yesterday that wording around critical infrastructure was the problem. What does he mean by that? What's Australia's understanding of that?
Assistant Minister: Well, we're working through those issues with the Vanuatu government. They've got their internal processes, we have ours. And it's all part of our respect for their processes and their internal dialogue regarding this agreement. And obviously, Australia's been committed to providing support for infrastructure development in the Pacific. There was an earthquake in Vanuatu a couple of years ago that had a devastating impact on a number of important pieces of infrastructure that Australia's been partnering with Vanuatu to rebuild. Myself and the Foreign Minister visited some of that infrastructure when we were there earlier in the year. So, we'll continue to be a reliable partner for Pacific neighbours, particularly around infrastructure, infrastructure development. But at the same time, we have to respect the internal processes of our Pacific neighbours in agreements such as this.
Sara: Vanuatu's leaders are concerned that the agreement could limit their engagement with other countries. Given the 2022 deal fell over similar concerns, does Australia need to be more respectful of Vanuatu's sovereignty?
Assistant Minister: Well, that's the approach that we're taking. We've always said with our Pacific neighbours, it's based on respect and trying unity. And that's what the Pacific Islands Forum is all about, coming to agreements with our Pacific neighbours on issues such as climate change, such as security and development assistance. And we respect the processes that Vanuatu has to go through before they can finalise this agreement.
Sara: The Prime Minister joins the Pacific Islands Forum in Honiara today. What message is Australia giving to the Pacific about Australia's emissions targets?
Assistant Minister: Well, we're taking stronger action on climate change. We've got an overarching policy of net zero by 2050 and under that, we're now implementing policies to achieve that, such as new vehicle emission standards to reduce emissions on our roads. The safeguard mechanism ensuring that our 200-odd highest polluting companies reduce their emissions over time, the massive investments in solar, the huge uptake in household batteries, all of this is part of ensuring that Australia is doing its bit to assist our Pacific neighbours. You couple that with agreements such as the Falepili Union, where we're increasing support for climate change adaptation and mitigation measures, not only in Tuvalu, but across the Pacific. And importantly, we'll be reiterating that message of trying to partner with our Pacific neighbours to host COP31 next year to ensure that the world understands the urgency of the effect of climate change on the Pacific.
Sara: How likely do you think it is that the other contender for COP31, Türkiye, will make way for Australia?
Assistant Minister: Well, obviously there's a process that has to be undertaken. We think that Australia is perfectly positioned to host this COP31, given the urgency of climate change in the Pacific. And really we want to see some of those Northern hemisphere leaders come to the Southern hemisphere, come to Australia, to Adelaide, and hopefully use the time that they're here to think about perhaps travelling to Pacific neighbours and engaging with their governments and their people around the urgency of climate change. And that's why we've always said that this bid for COP31 is done in partnership with our Pacific neighbours to ensure that the rest of the world understands the urgency of climate change and the need for stronger action.
Sara: It's likely that the Pacific leaders will sign the Fiji-led initiative called the Ocean of Peace Declaration, which is a framework for resolving conflicts collectively. Is the Australian Government confident that AUKUS doesn't present any challenges in this regard?
Assistant Minister: Yeah, we are. We've undertaken a very, very thorough process of consultation with Pacific Island nations prior to the announcement of AUKUS, and we continue to update them regarding AUKUS. And the Fijian Prime Minister, when he was recently in Australia, made the point about that agreement, that security agreement between Pacific neighbours, that it was important and that it was based on the principle of unity and the Pacific finding its security in that unity. And that's a point that the Prime Minister will be reiterating today, that we want to partner with our Pacific neighbours around security and policing to ensure that we operate on that principle of unity, respect for sovereignty, but at the same time ensuring that we're working together to guarantee and maintain the security of all Pacific neighbours.
Sara: Minister, thank you for your time this morning.
Assistant Minister: Thanks, Sally.