Press conference, Suva, Fiji

Sitiveni Rabuka, Prime Minister of Fiji: Thank you very much. Honourable Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Penny Wong, I asked her the first time we met whether it was proper for me to call her Penny Wong. She said "Yes, the only person who's ever called me Penelope was my mother when she was angry with me." And a few weeks ago, we had to send our condolence message to the Honourable Penny Wong, on the loss of that dear mother.

We welcome you again to Fiji this time, but you are near enough, always following me around. And when we met in Japan, I asked her, thinking about what we're going through in Fiji, about the work towards introducing the question of constitutional change, what is happening in New Caledonia, what is happening in Indonesia and West Papua, and they said to me "We're going to be talking to the people who are there." "Who?" "The New Caledonians." And I said, "Well, who are New Caledonians?" They said, "The people of New Caledonia." "Melanesians of New Caledonia, Franco New Caledonians or Anglo New Caledonians, or just the Melanesians?" And then I asked her "Who is Australian? Penny Wong or Evonne Goolagong?" She said, "Both". Oh okay. Welcome to Fiji, where we're all Fijians.

And we're going through that time for engineering our society and finding the proper constitutional arrangements for new Fiji. You reminded us about climate change and what is brought to medicine in the world. And I remember – what was the name – the chap who wrote the book, I think Professor or Doctor, you will know who wrote this book 'Guns, Germs and Steel'. She would know who wrote that book. It's about societies changing inspired by 'Guns, Germs and Steel'. He should have – it was Jared Diamond, the name of the writer. Jared Diamond wrote that book, 'Guns, Germs and Steel'. He should have included climate. That would have inspired developments around the world.

And today we are very, very grateful to the Australian Government for giving us money to be able to redevelop our hospital, the Colonial War Memorial Hospital. We so glibly say CWM Hospital and forget that it stands for Colonial War Memorial Hospital. Some people now would probably not know what 'colonial' means. The Colonial War Memorial Hospital is when our men and women joined the forces that stood up to the axis forces that were threatening peace in the world at that time. And we're so grateful that one of those that received men and women from Fiji, who went abroad, and you'll see the names of those that did not return on the wall facing the main door.

So, we're very grateful to you that you've come to us. We'll just send this video recording round the world so that those that fought with us during that time are probably, "Oh, we should be there," and they'll come. So welcome.

Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Thank you very much. And as always, the Prime Minister has given us food for thought. And he has reminded us – you have reminded us, Prime Minister, of our history. The long history, of what our countries have shared in war and peace. And you've also reminded us about the importance of inclusion for Fiji and for Australia in our own societies. And the history of our two countries, because of who we are, because of what we share, because of the region we are part of, is really consistent with the partnership we now have – the Vuvale Partnership. And you said, Prime Minister, you're grateful. Can I say we are grateful, too. We're grateful for your friendship. We're grateful for the friendship of your people. We're grateful for your wisdom as a Pacific leader. We're grateful for your one-liners – usually. And I'm very grateful to be standing here with you today to make this announcement.

Thank you.

Host: Thank you very much. Time for two or three questions from the media. You can just raise your hand if you want to ask a question. Introduce yourself.

Journalist: Bula Vinaka, Foreign Minister. My name is Jone Salusalu. I am from the Fiji Sun. Ma'am, you mentioned about the current –

Rabuka: She's not a Foreign Minister; she's the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Journalist: Foreign Affairs.

Rabuka: She's not foreign to Australia.

Journalist: Minister, you mentioned about the current crisis that Fiji is going through – drugs. Apart from policing, what are other ways that Australian Government can support Fiji in the uphill battle that we're currently going through right now?

Foreign Minister: Well, first, I would say the principle of Vuvale and our work with you is that we seek to be responsive. So, I would not come here to tell you what we would do. We work with you on the programs, on the issues that the government and the people identify to us as priorities in the ways that you seek to work with us and that you seek support. So, I just would make that as a general proposition.

We do have a range of bilateral and regional programs, including stronger engagement with law enforcement targeting drug production and trafficking, as well as broader support for responses for the social impacts of drug use. We have the Fiji Police reset through a Renewing Policing Agreement between your police and ours. We're supporting the delivery of police command centres. We're delivering training in areas ranging from intelligence to digital forensics, and we're working more closely on complex transnational investigations. And as a result of our bilateral cooperation, we've seen a recent seizure of 4.27 tonnes of methamphetamine and 13 arrests. But more broadly, we look to work with you on this challenge, as on all challenges.

Host: Do we have another question? Thank you.

Journalist: Good afternoon, Madam.

Foreign Minister: Good afternoon.

Journalist: Meri Radinibaravi, from the Fiji Times. In your speech you mentioned that there will be an engineering assessment while the master plan is being developed. If the engineering assessment comes back and the report shows that buildings are not useable, is there a possibility of relocation?

Foreign Minister: Well, look, I find in politics that responding to hypotheticals is not a good thing, but look, I listened closely to what Alison said, and she made the very good point that we have to ensure whatever is done immediately or in the near term, reflects broadly the direction in the longer term. I'm not going to pre-empt what the studies might show. That's a matter for the master plan. And I think there's a lot of good work we can do together. And I hope I have the opportunity to come back here on another visit and we can see some progress.

Host: Thank you. Time for maybe one more question.

Journalist: Senator Wong and the Prime Minister, I've got a question for you both. Senator Wong, this is for you: The Prime Minister has always been advocating on the need for a region of peace or a notion of peace. However, geopolitical tensions around the world, particularly the Middle East and in Europe, has put pressure on Fiji and the rest of the world. How does Australia intend to assist Fiji on that front?

And also at the Prime Minister: Fiji has always indicated its support for the Israeli, particularly Benjamin Netanyahu, on its effort to defend itself at the cost of women and children on the Gaza Strip. The question is: Fiji's position, is it okay to continue to support a - what I've written here is "bloodthirsty men", at the cost of Palestinian lives?

Thank you.

Foreign Minister: First, I've travelled in these last three weeks to Japan, to Laos, to Japan again, to Korea and most recently to Washington and then I've come here. And I would make the observation, first, that what happens in different regions of the world does affect us. Second, that peace is never a given; it's something we must all work for. Australia always seeks to work for peace and stability. We always look to ways in which we as a middle power globally can contribute to that peace and stability. And you may have heard me say what we want is a peaceful, stable and prosperous region.

I have read and listened to your Prime Minister very carefully when he talks about his ocean of peace framework, concept, vision. And there is so much within, on that vision that we can do together. Because what it says to me is, at a time when there is a lot of conflict, there is a lot of, what you described as geopolitics, there's a wisdom of remembering that we don't generate peace by pretending it is not there; we contribute to peace by what we say and what we do. We have to be active in seeking to preserve peace.

So, when the Prime Minister speaks about an ocean of peace, a region of peace, to my way of thinking – and he can speak for himself – it is about what is it, as a region, we can do at this time to try and preserve and build peace when there is so much conflict.

The other point I would make – you know, the issue that you raise is a divisive, distressing, tragic one. One of the things that we in Australia have to keep striving to do is to have the discussion about what is occurring in ways that are respectful, respectful of differences of views.

Rabuka: Thank you. I am going to just answer by saying – answering your question by saying that what peace does not cost lives?

Behind you there is a street, Brewster Street, my club, Queen Victoria School Old Boys Club rests at Brewster Street. If you stand in the middle of Brewster Street and look across the bay, the harbour, you'll find Joske's ramp. One of the soldiers who volunteered to go to the war was a young Joske. When he came to join the British Army, they asked him, "Please change your name. Can you be known by another name?"

So, he used his mother's name, Brewster. He came back with a Military Cross. That name, Brewster, and the son of Joske, that was when the world stood up to fight not only for the Jews of Germany but for the rest of Europe and the world.

In the years of the strategic arms limitation talks there was an acronym bandied around – M.A.D; Mutually Assured Destruction. If both the East and the West have enough to assure the destruction of the other side and the other side has the same armament to destroy the other side, Mutually Assured Destruction. Was that peace? If they had achieved that, would that have been peace?

I define peace as the absence of fear. And we have to conduct our international affairs motivated by the objective of achieving an absence of fear, that no-one lives under a threat. So, there's no simple answer to your question.

And for Israel, yes, they have the right to defend themselves, hopefully at no human cost. But that's not possible, because we've seen over history there is always a human cost for peace and stability and the restoration of order. Always a cost. And unfortunately, in many cases – no, in all cases, it's human lives.

Bangladesh is going through the same thing right now. The breakdown, big breakdown of law and order. They want to restore peace. Let's see how many will be lost in the restoration of that peace. Vinaka.