Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Secretary General, can I thank you and your team – vinaka, tubwa kor – and thank you for your leadership, your leadership and the leadership of your team of the region's premier organisation and Pat and I are very happy to be here.
This place, the Secretariat of the PIF, this is the heart of the Pacific – the heart of Pacific regionalism – it's where I gave my very first speech to the Pacific as Foreign Minister and we understand that the Forum makes us stronger, it unites us and it is the key to realising the leaders' vision for a peaceful, stable and prosperous region. We count on each other to support the aspirations of our peoples, including in times of crisis.
If I may make a few comments about the fuel crisis because I know that is front of mind here in the Pacific as it is in Australia. The de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused unprecedented disruptions to global energy supply. I know how distressing this has been in Australia and I know how distressing it is for the people of the Pacific, so we come with a key message to the Pacific family – Australia is a committed partner, Australia is a reliable partner, we have stood with you through challenging times and we will stand with you again today.
The Strait supplies around 80 per cent of the oil to our region, through the refineries in Asia and Forum members rely on imported fuels for transport, for industry, for tourism, for agriculture and often also for electricity generation. It is foundational to our economies and the health of Pacific communities. And whilst no country is immune, including Australia, we recognise that the costs are disproportionately borne by those who are most vulnerable. Supply to the region has remained steady thus far but PIF countries are acutely exposed to rising fuel costs and potential future supply risks so we support the invocation by the Forum Troika, of the Biketawa Declaration, and we will work closely with the governments of the region and the Secretariat to coordinate our regional response.
We are already actively working on a number of fronts, obviously we have pushed for de-escalation and an end to the war, we are involved in diplomatic efforts to reopen the Strait, and we are engaging with other countries that supply fuel to our region. The Prime Minister, Treasurer Chalmers, Cabinet Ministers, including me, have all directly advocated for stable, reliable and secure supply for the Pacific including with key trading partners. And I am pleased that the statement that I released last week with the Republic of Korea, which is a very large fuel supplier to our region and to the Pacific, we agreed to uphold the resilience of Pacific energy markets with the Pacific explicitly "front of mind".
We're engaging with private companies that provide supply and we know we maximise our impact as governments when we shore up existing commercial supply chains. Australia is providing support and technical assistance to Pacific partners to develop and implement national response plans, this will help governments of the region manage immediate pressures and continue delivering essential services to the people of the Pacific. And we're working to draw in support from other longstanding partners including New Zealand, Japan, the US, France, as well as the ADB and the World Bank. Coordinating these efforts to back in a Pacific-led response to these global shocks makes all of our economies stronger, more secure and more resilient now and into the future.
Secretary General, you spoke of regional solidarity, I think in your opening sentences, we have to face this current moment with regional solidarity. That is what Forum members do, just as we are doing so to ensure global attention is drawn to Pacific climate impacts and solutions through the upcoming pre-COP leaders' events. I'm really pleased to be here with Minister Conroy and my delegation, these are extraordinary times and we are, this is the place to be to work together on the region's collective response. Forum unity and the Pacific voice have never been more important. Thank you for receiving us, SG.
Media note: View the opening remarks.