Press conference, Tanna Island, Vanuatu

Prime Minister of Vanuatu Jotham Napat: Well first of all, I acknowledge the presence of Deputy Prime Minister of Australia Marles, and his delegation. I do acknowledge the presence of Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Conroy - Pat Conroy. We're so grateful that they would arrive in my home island. And the level of our negotiation today to conclude the Nakamal Agreement has been elevated to a more a win-win situation for Australia and Vanuatu, and we're so grateful. Today we have witnessed the initial signing of the Agreement by our Deputy Prime Minister, Johnny Koanapo, and this is yet to be actually signed by the two leaders, which I'm hoping that the Prime Minister of Australia will come over to Port Vila, Vanuatu, where we'd put pen on the actual agreement itself and to give it a blessing for the roll out of the plan. And again, as I've said, the Agreement that has entered today will transpire into a lot of great benefits between the two countries, whether it be the security agreement, economic transformation, with some specific focus on the mobile labour mobility and financial support. So again, I wish to thank the Government of Australia for a well, well received negotiation that we have concluded today. And I thank you again for the presence, especially for coming down to Tanna.

Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Richard Marles: Well Prime Minister, thank you very much for hosting us here. Minister Koanapo, Minister Napuat, to be with three Tanna ministers here in Tanna today, and I very much speak on behalf of Penny and Pat, it has been a very, very special day indeed. Today we met to finalise negotiations for an agreement which will transform the relationship between our two countries. And in the spirit of Nakamal, we really made breakthroughs today which have brought us to a point of substantially concluding the negotiations between our two countries,. And we were able to initial this Agreement on the summit of Mount Yasur, which is a very significant place in which to put our signatures to what is a very significant agreement between our two countries. It is our intention that the finalised agreement will be signed between the Prime Minister - Prime Minister Napat and Prime Minister Albanese in the coming weeks, and we look forward to the finalisation of that process to allow for those signatures to occur and for the agreement to be finalised. But what this does is acknowledge our shared history. It acknowledges our shared economic connection. It makes clear that it is core business for Australia to be engaged in the human development of Vanuatu. It acknowledges that as neighbours, we have a shared security environment and a commitment to each other, which is embodied in this Agreement. And looking to the future, it acknowledges that as neighbours and as close friends, we have a shared destiny. But it is really more significant than that, because we are neighbours, and we have been and continue to be very close friends, but what this Agreement really does is, for the first time, acknowledge what has always been the truth, and that is that as two nations, we are family, and that our future is very much bound together. We are really honoured to have been able to play a part in bringing this Agreement to the point that we are at today. And on behalf of Penny, I really want to thank Jotham, Johnny and Andrew for the idea of coming here to Tanna, to really be in this place, to finally put out signatures on it, to get it to the point where our two leaders will be able to sign it in the coming weeks. It is a very special day today. One that none of us will ever forget. Thank you.

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong: Prime Minister Napat, Deputy Prime Minister Koanapo, Deputy Prime Minister Marles, fellow ministers, I just want to make some brief comments. First, what an honour it is to be here in Vanuatu, in Tanna, with the Australian delegation, and to lead with such a senior delegation led by the Prime Minister of your country. But secondly, I wanted to thank you, Prime Minister, for your leadership. We've been speaking about this for some time, and the Prime Minister always spoke about the importance of a broader agreement, a deeper agreement - an agreement that would transform the relationship between our countries. And he had a vision of bringing us here, to this island, which is a place of great meaning and great spirituality. And that sense of place, I think was brought to the discussions we had culminating in the quite extraordinary experience of being able to initial this Agreement on the side of the volcano. It is an Agreement that will transform our relationship. It is Agreement that is, as Richard said about the human development of Vanuatu across many domains. But the important thing about this Agreement is not only the now, it is important, but actually the most important thing is where we will be three and five and ten years. I hope we will all look back on this day and say this is the day which, on which the Australia-Vanuatu, the Vanuatu-Australia, relationship was transformed, and our people have benefited as a result. Thank you.

Minister for Pacific Island Affairs: Thank you, Prime Minister and DPMs and fellow ministers. I just simply want to pay tribute to the leadership of Prime Minister Napat, Deputy Prime Minister Koanapo, Ministers Napuat and Minister Harry, for the energy that they've driven this process. I remember when Prime Minister Napat announced the intention to enter into a Nakamal on the steps of his own office in Port Vila, in February this year, when I had the honour of being the first international minister to meet with Vanuatu, the Vanuatu Government Officials in Vanuatu. He was very clear with the public of Vanuatu about what his priorities were, and I want to pay tribute to his energy and the dedication of the leaders behind me and the officials that have driven the conclusion of what is a very important agreement, a transformational agreement, as has been said before. So, I want to thank you, Prime Minister Napat, DPM, ministers for your leadership in establishing this Agreement that will transform the relationship between our two countries. And as Foreign Minister Wong said, when we look back in three, five and ten-years' time, we will see a transformed, uplifted relationship that truly reflects the fact that both countries see the other country as family, thank you very much.

Journalist: My question is for the Ministers of both sides. Prime Minister of Vanuatu, you said that you couldn't sign the agreement unless Australia made concessions on visa-free travel. Can you say whether Australia has made any concessions to the rules for citizens of Vanuatu and if not, why has the government of Vanuatu decided this commitment was not critical?

Prime Minister of Vanuatu Jotham Napat: It is part of the Agreement. There will be a subsidiary agreement, the main agreement that we sign off on today, which I believe that my counterpart from Australia, they will also get back to us on that. But that's for one, one of the agenda items that is included as part of the Agreement.

Journalist: My question is about the data centre. Can you give us some insights about the data centre?

Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Richard Marles: Look, I won't go into specifics, because ultimately, when this Agreement is signed, we will make further announcements about the particulars in relation to development. But what I want to say now is that the economic development of Vanuatu is a critical part of the Agreement that we've signed. And we're very aware of the data centres project - there will be more to say as we go forward, but when we say that the human development of Vanuatu is now core business for Australia, we very much see that in terms of the contributions that we can make in terms of the economic development of Vanuatu, and we really do understand how important the data centres are in relation to that.