The Albanese Government’s Pacific Agenda: Reshaping relationships, reshaping how we see ourselves

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging.

Thank you to the McKell Institute for inviting me to give this address on the Albanese Government's Pacific agenda.

McKell is one of Australia's most dynamic think tanks and I congratulate you for the quality of your research program.

It makes an important contribution to policy debate in this country.

Ask our friends overseas what springs to mind when they think of Australia, and there will be plenty who immediately focus on our land, and think of images of the rugged outback.

Endless plains of rusty red, sparsely peppered with low shrubs, maybe a mob of kangaroos hopping off in the distance.

It's an image immortalised through words like Dorothea Mackellar's “The wide brown land for me!”

But my focus today is on what surrounds our wide brown land.

The Pacific Ocean connects us to our nearest neighbours.

It is the world's largest ocean.

So large that countries across the region now refer to it as “the Blue Pacific Continent.”

This Blue Pacific was a central part of Labor's foreign policy commitments at the last election.

And in government we have been hard at work implementing our vision for stronger engagement with the Pacific.

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There's a case to be made for all of us – all Australians – to pay a lot more attention to the Blue Pacific Continent at our shores.

Next year, it will be ten years since Peter Dutton was caught on a hot mic joking about the Pacific – saying that “time doesn't mean anything when you're about to have water lapping at your door.”

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I was incredibly proud to take a comprehensive package of Pacific policies to the last election.

It was the first time an Australian party had elevated the importance of the Pacific in its election commitments to that extent.

Central to that policy was the ALP's focus on climate change – not just in relation to the Pacific, but across the board.

Pacific leaders have declared that climate change is the number one threat to the security of their people – and they are right.

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These are important relationships that the Albanese Government has been working tirelessly to improve since the 2022 election.

Just four days into her new role as Foreign Minister, Penny Wong travelled to Fiji to set out this new direction and committed to real action on climate.

In a speech at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, she said that for too long, Australia had been ignoring Pacific voices urging us to act on climate change.

This acknowledgement helped unlock a new era of engagement, trust and mutual respect.

Since that time, we have brought energy, focus and strategic coordination to Australia's Pacific relationships.

This extends across the Cabinet room: from the Prime Minister, to the Deputy PM, the Treasurer, Attorney-General, Minister for Home Affairs and other colleagues.

A great example of this commitment is our relationship with Papua New Guinea.

Earlier this year, PNG's Prime Minister Marape became the first Pacific leader to address a joint sitting of Australia's Parliament.

This followed Prime Minister Albanese becoming the first foreign leader to address PNG's Parliament in 2023.

We then had both Prime Ministers walking the Kokoda Track together.

That track – that fabled dirt path through the jungle – is lodged deep in our national consciousness as one of the ultimate symbols of sacrifice and mateship between Australia and our nearest neighbour.

Prime Ministers Marape and Albanese spent virtually every waking moment together for several days, including celebrating Prime Minister Marape's birthday.

And in June, a very senior delegation of seven Australian Ministers travelled to Port Moresby for the 30th PNG-Australia Ministerial Forum.

That level of Ministerial engagement demonstrates this Government's efforts to listen to the region.

We are consistently listening to our Pacific neighbours; respecting them; and responding to their priorities.

Personal relationships are important in the Pacific.

That's why the Foreign Minister and I have made it a priority to visit Pacific countries, to meet with Pacific leaders and communities.

Penny Wong visited every member of the Pacific Islands Forum in her first year as Foreign Minister and, in just over two years, has made 21 Pacific visits.

By contrast her predecessor Marise Payne visited six Pacific island countries in nearly four years as Foreign Minister.

I've made 24 Pacific visits in my two years as Minister. – compared to 35 visits by my Pacific Minister predecessors during the nine and half years of the former government.

It's not just the number of visits but the quality of the relationships that are created by repeated, respectful and genuine engagement.

For example, I have visited Papua New Guinea seven times in 20 months, Vanuatu four times and Fiji three times.

This is not to mention the regular meetings Pacific leaders have in Australia.

This renewed Ministerial commitment has elevated the importance of the Pacific for Australian foreign policy.

There are a huge number of significant achievements we can point to:

• New security and closer relations pacts with PNG, Tuvalu and Fiji.
• Increasing Australia's Pacific development assistance to a record $2 billion per year, and working with our neighbours to deliver on their greatest needs.
• Increasing the number of Pacific workers in Australia under our labour mobility scheme, resulting in higher remittance flows to the region, along with skills gain and entrepreneurship.
• Creating the first-ever Pacific permanent migration pathway though the Pacific Engagement Visa.
• Enhancing defence, policing and cyber cooperation across the region, to help us collectively tackle security threats like cybersecurity, transnational crime and illegal fishing.
• Embedding a truly regional approach to security and putting the Pacific Islands Forum at the heart of how we manage our collective security.
• Driving sports diplomacy – using a true Australian national asset, combined with an inherent Pacific love of sports, to grow our common bonds and influence.
• And building people-to-people links by supporting diaspora communities and faith networks.

But I return to the central issue of climate change.

Committing to real domestic action on climate change has ushered in a new level of Pacific trust and mutual respect – because action at home is critical to our credibility abroad.

This includes our commitment to reduce Australia's emissions by 43 per cent by 2030 and to reach net zero emissions by 2050 – commitments now enshrined in legislation.

Our strong domestic action has enabled us to put climate change at the centre of how we work with the Pacific.

We have established a new Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership which is building climate-resilient infrastructure for Pacific communities. 
Infrastructure sturdy enough, for example, to withstand the next cyclone.

We are investing in off-grid renewable energy generation projects for rural and remote communities in PNG, Vanuatu and Timor-Leste.

We have made a foundational investment of $100 million in the Pacific Resilience Facility, which will deliver adaptation projects for the Pacific, by the Pacific.

We have supported Vanuatu's request to the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on climate change.

We have supported the ongoing applicability of the law of the sea, and the implications for statehood in the face of rising oceans.

Our landmark Falepili Union treaty with Tuvalu sets out the world's first treaty-level agreement on a pathway for mobility with dignity as climate impacts worsen.

And in another world-first for a legally binding agreement, the treaty recognises that Tuvalu's statehood and sovereignty will continue, notwithstanding the impacts of climate-related sea level rise.

Recognising many Tuvaluans want the choice to remain on the land of their ancestors, the treaty provides for enhanced climate adaptation, and mobility with dignity, giving Tuvaluans the choice to stay or to pursue new opportunities in Australia.

This is the most significant agreement between Australia and a Pacific country since the agreements for PNG's independence in 1975.

It will elevate the relationship between Australia and Tuvalu to a deep and comprehensive partnership – a true partnership between friends.

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Greens Senator David Shoebridge earlier this year said the agreement would unravel following Tuvalu's election but the treaty is progressing well in both countries.

Our efforts on climate change are being received very well in the Pacific.

While some people would like us to move faster, there is an understanding of the transition underway in Australia and the serious commitment of the Australian Government.

In conversations with Pacific counterparts I find there is a much better appreciation of the Albanese Government's commitment on climate than on the part of some Australian commentators who prefer to tell the Pacific what to think rather than to listen to the Pacific.  

The Albanese Government's efforts build on a proud Australian Labor Party history of working with the Pacific.

Take the great Gough Whitlam, whose portrait greets me every time I walk into my office in Parliament House.

When Prime Minister Marape addressed our Parliament earlier this year, he said:

“No greater legacy remains forever in the hearts and minds of Papua New Guinea than the imprint of Gough Whitlam's Labor Government --- The final cut of the umbilical cord between Australia and PNG took place under the watch of Prime Minister Whitlam and my forerunner, the father of my country, Great Grand Chief Sir Michael Thomas Somare.”

He continued:

“The name of Gough Whitlam will forever live on … Because of [his] leadership then … Papua New Guinea is independent today.”

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Whitlam also appointed the first dedicated Pacific Minister, Bill Morrison, to guide our relationship with PNG, and shape our regional engagement.

This Pacific Ministerial position was abolished by Malcolm Fraser and not reinstated until the next Labor government.

Paul Keating was struck by the challenges facing the Pacific when he visited Nauru as Prime Minister in 1993.

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Keating followed that up by attending all meetings of the South Pacific Forum as Prime Minister; adopting new policies focussed on Pacific economic growth; and appointing Gordon Bilney as Minister for Pacific Island Affairs.

The position was again abolished when John Howard came to power – he had no dedicated Pacific Minister between 1996 and 2007.

Under the Rudd and Gillard Governments the position of Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs was held by Duncan Kerr, Richard Marles and Matt Thistlethwaite.

But Tony Abbott abolished the Parliamentary Secretary for the Pacific position in 2013.

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Prime Minister Albanese's recent changes to the Ministry include having the Pacific Minister in Cabinet.

This presents an opportunity to give a stronger voice to issues that are important to the Pacific family of which Australia is a part.

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In his first significant speech as Foreign Minister, Gareth Evans spoke about the region in ways which still resonate today.

Evans said:

“We have clear geo-political or strategic interests in preserving and promoting peace in the region; in promoting internal political stability and the peaceful evolution of democratic political systems in the island states; in keeping the region free from destabilising activity by any external power or group.”

Later, he wrote:

“Notwithstanding our greater size and economic capacity, we want to approach the region within a framework of regional partnership, not dominance—not regarding the South Pacific as our sphere of influence, but a region of mutually reinforcing opportunity.”

He emphasised the need to uphold the principles of sovereignty, regional cooperation, and security through economic and social development.

The concepts Gareth Evans laid out more than 30 years ago remain highly relevant today, but the circumstances in which we are operating have changed drastically.

The strategic context we find ourselves in is multidimensional.

The world is more connected than ever.

Phones and access to data are ubiquitous, and Facebook is the most popular way of keeping in touch across the region.

We have people travelling across borders more than ever.

We also have significant economic connectivity and trade links which sit alongside our governmental and people-to-people links.

With those growing connections, there are now more external partners showing greater interest in the Pacific than ever before.

The Foreign Minister has spoken recently about how we are now “in a state of permanent contest” in the region.

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We want to see a region where states can exercise sovereignty, free from coercion, and in accordance with international law.

We want a region that is peaceful and stable.

So we need to work with the Pacific to ensure it remains in the driver's seat --- engaging with China and other partners on its terms to meet its ambition for a region that is peaceful, safe and prosperous.

We recognise Australia's own economic success story would not be what it is today without China.

So we will always support partners in the region to explore economic growth opportunities.

But we expect this not to be accompanied by coercion and interference.

The Australian Government takes an open approach in listening to our partners and delivering on their priorities, and we have called on China to do the same.

China should be more transparent in the aid it is giving, and should treat infrastructure projects as opportunities for the Pacific to grow local employment, skills and procurement.

Infrastructure should be climate resilient, high quality, and meet safeguards and inclusion benchmarks.

The region has spelled out these priorities in the Pacific Quality Infrastructure Principles.

This is what Pacific countries have asked for.

We encourage any country that wants to support the Pacific to use those principles as their starting point.

The region has also spelled out, in the 2022 Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Communique, that the security of the Pacific is the shared responsibility of the Pacific family.

Australia is building on decades of defence and law enforcement cooperation, and investing to play our part in keeping and building peace in the region.

We are pledged to the Boe Declaration on Regional Security and its expanded concept of security.

And we are working with our Pacific partners to response to natural disasters, maritime security demands, and new threats such as cyber.

The recent joint statement by Prime Ministers Albanese and Manele that Australia would continue to be the Solomon Islands' security partner of choice is a good example of Pacific-led, Australian-supported approaches to regional security.

The strategic environment we face demands a multifaceted response.

The Albanese Government is drawing on all elements of national power – working to revitalise our Pacific relationships.

We are working with the region to deliver on their priorities in a respectful way.

We are delivering internet connectivity, including laying the first undersea cables that some of our partner countries have ever had.

We are supporting aviation and air connectivity in the region.

This support for digital and aviation capacity is critical to development, and underpins economic growth.

And we are working with partners across the Pacific to deliver migration options that expand our people-to-people links.

The Rudd Government established the first pilot for a Pacific seasonal worker scheme in 2008.

This was a predecessor to today's Pacific Australia Labour Mobility program.

This PALM program has become a true success story in forging links with the Pacific – and we now have tens of thousands of Pacific women and men filling gaps in our labour market.

They are earning remittances that support home communities and families.

They are developing skills and experience which are helping them to set up their own businesses and employ others when they return home.

I have met countless PALM workers across Australia and during my visits to the region.

I have been impressed by their commitment, work ethic and the contributions they are making to their Australian host communities and to their home countries.

That's why this Government has taken active policy decisions to expand PALM.

I am also excited about our new Pacific Engagement Visa.

The Pacific Engagement Visa establishes, for the first time in Australia's history, a dedicated permanent migration pathway for the Pacific.

We are beginning with a quota of up to 3,000 visas per year.

This will allow individuals and families to come to Australia on a permanent basis and establish lives here.

They will be able to travel home as they need, to maintain bonds with family and friends, and take up all the opportunity that an Australian life can afford them.

This new visa responds to long-held calls by the region – and the level of interest has been very strong.

Registrations for the first Pacific Engagement Visa ballot are closing this month.

Tens of thousands of people from the 10 participating countries have registered for the ballot, significantly more than the cap of 3,000 places available.

The next steps for those selected in the ballot will be to lodge formal visa applications and for their applications to be assessed against the visa criteria.

We look forward to the first Pacific Engagement Visas being granted in coming months.

This new visa will build the ballast of interpersonal links and a Pacific diaspora that will underpin our relationship with the region into the future.

Professor Stephen Howes of the Australian National University has written that the Pacific Engagement Visa recognises:

• The strategic importance of the Pacific.
• Australia's longstanding ties with the region.
• The under-representation of our near neighbours in our migration program.
• The support that remittances bring to the region.
• And righting the legacy of the historical wrongs of blackbirding and the White Australia policy.

The waves of migration to Australia – particularly following World War II and with the formalisation of our multicultural policy – have made our country a richer, more unique place in the world.

It is clear just how culturally literate and familiar we have become with different parts of the world – because migration has embedded those people and their cultures into the fabric of our Australian society.

And so now, through the Albanese Government's efforts in the Pacific – and particularly through the Pacific Engagement Visa – I think we need to enter a new phase of our multiculturalism.

Just as we, collectively, may feel familiar with family and friends from the UK, Italy, Greece, Lebanon; or Vietnam and the Philippines; or China and India ...

... I hope that the next phase of our migration and multicultural story will feature our Pacific friends more prominently.

Estimates based on the last Census put the number of people of Pacific island heritage living in Australia at 337,000.

That's 1.3 per cent of our population – and this share will grow in coming years, reflecting demographic factors as well as measures like the Pacific Engagement Visa.

Pasifika are already embedded in our society, and making great, but often under-acknowledged, contributions to our communities.

Some have been here for many generations – the South Sea Islander descendants of the victims of blackbirding.

We need to acknowledge and recognise their stories, and their histories, because they are part of our history.

How can we grow our familiarity with Pasifika culture and traditions, and foster a deeper Pacific connection here on our own shores?

To truly meet the challenges of the age, in a region that is feeling it the most, we will need to change ourselves.

We must improve our connections, knowledge and familiarity with the Pacific.

We can learn so much from Pacific cultural values of family, collectivism, consensus, respect, reciprocity and spirituality.

We have to keep renewing the multicultural commitment that has served us so well for decades.

We will need to keep evolving and iterating what we do to support the region around us and how we work with our neighbours.

The Albanese Government's Pacific agenda runs as deep as it does broad: a multidimensional approach that aims to better integrate us with the region around us.

But it's a region, I would argue, which we, as a country, have not traditionally understood all too well.

The Government's new policies have worked well over the past two years.

But there remains so much more to do, and so many opportunities to seize for Australia and for the Pacific.

And for us, over time, I hope that Dorothea Mackellar's imagery of our “jewel-sea” will equally be at the heart of our national consciousness alongside the “wide brown land.”

Thank you.