Solomon Islands

Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy: I'll start off with a quick opening statement. Well, it's a real pleasure to have my third visit to the Solomon Islands in only two years as Minister for International Development and the Pacific. I'm honoured to be a representative of Australia and to spend my time working with the governments of the Pacific and the Government of Solomon Islands in advancing peace and prosperity in our region. We're proud to be the biggest, the number one economic development and security partner of the Solomon Islands. It's a place, a position that we don't treat lightly, it's a privilege, and it's our job every day to work hard to advance the interests and the prosperity of the people of Solomon Islands. During this visit, I've been honoured to meet with Prime Minister Manele and a range of Ministers, including Minister Shanel for Foreign Affairs, Minister Rexon for Planning, Minister Tanangada for Police, Minister Leokana for Education, Minister Popora for Health, Minister Mahaga for Climate, Minister Sogavare for Finance, and Minister Maelanga for Infrastructure.

Those meetings have been really productive and they've been really focused on the economic and security priorities of the Solomon Islands Government and its people. And if I could leave you with one message, it's that we turn up, we listen to your priorities and we act on them, and we know that your priorities are about economic development and having a safe and stable and prosperous Solomon Islands. And that's why I've made a series of announcements on this trip, including an extension by 30 years of the Aola Wharf, which is a critical piece of infrastructure for your guardian class patrol boats. I've announced investment in your customs infrastructure that will lead to more revenue for your government to pay for more services. I've announced a very significant new health partnership to expand services to the people of Solomon Islands. I'm very shortly going to open a community solar lights project, which is providing enhanced safety, particularly to women and children in Solomon Islands. And obviously, I'm here at the national university to announce a very significant increase in Australia awards scholarships, in fact, the tripling of Australian scholarships to 100.

That is a sign of our investment in the people of Solomon Islands. We're proud to be the number one economic development and security partner in Solomon Islands. We're proud, privileged that 50 per cent of all tourists to Solomon Islands are Australian. We're proud that we've doubled exports from Solomon Islands to Australia. And, in fact, when you exclude (inaudible), we're your biggest export market, which means more jobs for Solomon Islanders. And we're really privileged and grateful for the 7600 Solomon Islanders who work in Australia under the PALM Scheme, filling our labour shortages, getting new skills and sending home last year 247 million Solomon dollars. And I'm very confident that that figure will increase very significantly this year. So, thank you for having me and I'll be delighted to answer any questions you have.

Journalist: I have a question. So, I understand you've met with the Police Minister who was in southern China last week for a meeting with China's Minister for Public Security and several other Pacific police ministers. Did you discuss at the gathering or raise any concerns about China's continued push to extend its policy presence in the Pacific?

Minister Conroy: We discussed how Australia is privileged to be the security partner of choice for Solomon Islands. We discussed how we could continue to develop the concept that Prime Minister Manele and Prime Minister Albanese agreed to work towards enhancing the capacity and doubling of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force, which was in their leadership statement on Prime Minister Manele's state visit to Australia. We discussed a very successful Solomon Islands Assistance Force Deployment where we had Pacific - members of the Pacific Police and defence forces supporting the security needs of the Solomon Islands. And we discussed a very strong endorsement from the Pacific Islands Forum of the Pacific Policing Initiative, which says that if there's gaps in Pacific security, countries will look to the Pacific to fill them first. And we're privileged to be supporting the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force and we'll continue to do so. And as I said, we're working on the concept that Prime Minister Manele has put to Prime Minister Albanese around expanding the Solomon Islands police force and the three-tiered approach to security in the Solomon Islands, where your security is provided first by Solomon Islands' police, secondly by security support from Melanesian countries, and thirdly by the rest of the Pacific. That three-tiered approach is consistent with the PIF outcomes. That is something we strongly support.

Speaker: Any questions?

Minister Conroy: Any other questions?

Journalist: In terms of support towards security, [indistinct].

Minister Conroy: Absolutely. And this is one of the key things we're really privileged to be doing, which is helping construct border outposts, both the Western Border Outpost and the Eastern Border Outpost. Work has commenced on both of those, and initial operating capability on the Western Border Outpost is expected to be before the end of this year. Eastern Border Outpost has commenced. Importantly, in those projects, we're using local Solomon Islands companies. I met with the owner of a very large Solomon Islands construction firm that's doing the preparatory work for the eastern border outposts. So, I want, when we're investing in infrastructure in the Solomon Islands, not only do I want Solomon Islands people have the benefit of infrastructure, you should have the benefit of working on that infrastructure, getting the jobs and the economic revenue. And it was great to meet the construction company working on that last night.

Speaker: Okay, last question, if anyone has one.

Minister Conroy: Yes, sir.

Journalist: [indistinct]

Minister Conroy: Yes, I had a good conversation with the climate change Minister. Obviously, climate change is the number one existential threat to the Pacific, including Australia. And we are proud that we're taking strong climate action in Australia and we're supporting strong climate action in the Pacific. For example, we're supporting the rollout of renewable energy in Solomon Islands, including [indistinct] big back with the Tina River hydropower project that will provide 70 per cent of the power to Honiara. We're supporting four off grid renewable energy partnerships with 5.4 million Solomon Island dollars and we're building climate resilient infrastructure. Importantly, we're also helping the Solomon Islands access international climate finance, global climate finance. But that's taking too long and the Pacific is not getting its fair share. So, we're also investing in Pacific climate funds. So, we've announced the 550 million Solomon dollars investment in the Pacific Climate Resilient Fund - Pacific Resilience Fund. The PRF is about small climate projects for the Pacific being funded and run by the Pacific and so you don't have to worry about the big bureaucracy around the world. It could be the Pacific driving this agenda and we're proud to be the biggest contributor to it and providing 550 million Solomon Island dollars. So, we're a strong climate partner to the Solomon Islands. We'll continue to advocate for strong climate action and importantly, we're matching our rhetoric with action on the ground.

So, thank you for that excellent question. Thank you, everyone. And thank you again for the privilege of being here.