Press conference Suva, Fiji

Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Bula vinaka, thank you for joining us. Can I first thank the Prime Minister of Fiji, Prime Minister Rabuka, and the people of Fiji for their generous welcome and say again, Fiji and Australia are family. We have a Vuvale Partnership, which is about respect, trust and delivering for our people together. That means a lot to the people of Australia.

As I said in my speech, Australia understands that our prosperity and our security lies in our region, the Pacific. And we are very committed to being a full, respectful member of the Pacific family. I'm joined by Matt Thistlethwaite, my old friend, but a new Assistant Minister. This is his first visit in his new role. He has previously served in the role before and I'm very, very pleased for him to join us.

As I said in my contribution this morning or this afternoon, in an uncertain world we are counting on each other to work together to make our region even more resilient and Australia is a partner Fiji can count on. Australia is a partner the Pacific can count on. We are the largest and most comprehensive development partner in the region. And we have lifted our development assistance to record levels to more than $2.1 billion to the Pacific. And we have recognised also the global aid cuts and the effect of those, and we have dedicated almost half of our development program to support the Pacific. And of course, as I outline today, we're backing the Pacific on climate, including with our legislated cuts to our emissions, our ambitious renewable energy target of 82 per cent by 2030, and partnering with the Pacific in our bid to host COP31, to elevate Pacific voices and to drive global action. We've strengthened regional stability, supported Pacific sovereignty through the Pacific-led policing initiative as well as defence initiatives.

And I have a couple of announcements today which I am very pleased to make. I'm pleased to announce that Australia is delivering further support for Fiji's efforts to improve health care, especially its HIV response, and to rebuild and strengthen essential services. And my next stop after this will be again to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital, which I visited last year with Prime Minister Rabuka. We will launch a new clinical services plan which will help strengthen the delivery of health services over the coming decades for the people of Fiji and beyond. We will also deliver almost $4 million to support Fiji's HIV outbreak response plan. I know that this is an issue that the government and people of Fiji have been dealing with. We're pleased to be able to contribute to the response plan. We want to work with you to prevent the spread of HIV, as well as to improve treatment and reduce harm to those who are living with the disease. As Prime Minister Rabuka has said, we are working in the spirit of Vuvale, as family to build a region where we each can decide our own destiny. Vinaka vaka levu.

I'd also like to throw for a brief minute to Assistant Minister Matt Thistlethwaite so he can address you.

Matt Thistlewaite: Thanks, Foreign Minister. Good afternoon, everyone. Bula vinaka. It's an honour for me to have been appointed as the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs. And I want to thank Prime Minister Rabuka, the people of Fiji, the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, for welcoming myself and the Foreign Minister back to the Pacific Islands.

It's no accident that my first trip as an Assistant Foreign Minister is to Fiji and our neighbours in the Pacific. That highlights the importance of the relationship to Australians and the Australian Government of our family in the Pacific. And I look forward in my role to continuing to work on behalf of the Australian Government with the people of Fiji and other Pacific nations on development goals, on educational outcomes, on better health outcomes. The last time I was in Fiji, I went diving off the coral coast, scuba diving, and I was diving on one of the most fragile reef ecosystems in the world. But I got to appreciate the enormous beauty and the fragility of our oceans. And it's something that I am very, very passionate about, ocean conservation and stronger action on climate change.

I come from an area in Sydney which is on the coastline and it has an Indigenous community, First Nations Australians, who are known as the Saltwater People. They've lived around Botany Bay and the coastline there for thousands of years. And they've taught me the importance of ocean conservation and working with Indigenous communities to ensure that we protect those valuable assets into the future. And that was why it's an honour for myself and the Foreign Minister to have met with the Chair of the Great Council of Chiefs this morning on the eve of the reopening of their very important building, to discuss those First Nations issues and how we can work together and learn from First Nations peoples, not only in Australia and the Pacific, but throughout the world, to make better decisions. And I look forward to working with our Pacific partners, particularly around stronger action on climate change and making better decisions in the future. Thank you for having me.

Journalist: [Indistinct]. Congratulations on your reappointment and Labor win.

Journalist: Thank you.

Journalist: We want to start with that we do understand that the Australian Government has been doing a lot of work in the PALM Scheme. Now, the real issue here is the fact that we continue to see evidence and criticism on working and living conditions issues as well as victims of abuse. Our workers are constantly becoming victims of abuse. The question is, what new thing is the Labor Government going to do different to improve the scheme and also ensure the outcomes are tangible in a way that our workers are protected, as well as what they are sending back home really helping [indistinct].

Foreign Minister: Thank you. Well, I'm going to start with what I said in the last term at a Pacific leaders meeting I attended. I said, we want this to work for you. We want the PALM scheme to work for you, for your country and for your people. And that's where we start from. For Australia, it isn't just about the provision of labour. That's why we actually privilege the Pacific, not other countries in our further region in terms of this, access to this scheme.

Secondly, we're a Labor Government, so we represent working people. Our history is in the labour movement. We always work to try and ensure workers are well treated, that they are properly paid, that health and safety is observed - and we'll continue to do that. So, we have sought to strengthen the protections for workers in the scheme. Obviously, we'll continue to do that. We've worked with unions and employers to try and strengthen those protections, and we'll keep doing that. And I'm very grateful for the work from, the contribution to that effort, from the High Commissions and some Embassies in Australia for that.

The third thing we want to do is improve skills acquisition. So, when I was here in the Pacific, and I think also in Fiji, on previous visits, I talked about not just having agricultural workers, but people who work in the aged care sector and in the childcare sector, the early childhood sector. There are two reasons why that is very important. One is that is a growth area and I think Pacific Island people bring a great wisdom when it comes to caring and we value that. But it also is an area where people can be trained and are trained. So, part of the pilot that we're doing for both aged care and childcare includes Australian training to get them to what we call a Certificate III level. So, that is an investment in your people. They carry that education wherever they go. Now, we hope that they want to work in Australia, but if they don't, they have that capacity to take that education elsewhere.

And of course, you would know we have put additional funds into locally, training in the region, so making sure that young Pacific Islander people get an opportunity, more of them get an opportunity for vocational training in the region. So, I suppose what I'd say to you is we see this, the PALM program, as part of our broader economic and people integration and we want to make sure we keep reforming it to benefit your people and your economies.

Journalist: Bula Minister, I wanted to ask you about Australia's climate action and climate commitments. You emphasised in your speech the Australian Government's commitment to cut emissions. I noticed, though, you didn't make any new announcements in regards to climate action for Pacific Island countries. Will you commit to new climate action given Australia's bid for COP and growing calls from Pacific Island countries for more action from Australia?

Foreign Minister: Well, the first point I would make, and I am very open and honest with your leaders and your people about this - we have been, historically, a very fossil fuel dependent economy, a very emissions-intensive economy. So, we have to transform it. And that is a big task. I often liken it to a large ship being turned. That's what we have to do. And we have legislated very ambitious targets. So, our action is to meet them. And that requires a big economic transformation in Australia. And we committed to that. And we're really grateful for the mandate that the Australian people have given us to deliver that. That of itself will take a substantial, substantial effort in transforming our economy, which we remain committed to.

Secondly, you would be aware Australia made a very substantial contribution to the Pacific Resilience Facility, much more than we have given the Green Climate Fund. And that is because we went to Pacific leaders and we said to them, 'what do you want us to contribute to? What do you need in terms of your resilience?', and that is what led to the government of Australia contributing to the PRF.

The third point I'd make is actually the point I made in the speech. We have to do our part, and we completely accept the responsibility that we have to play our part and to change our economy. But as I said in the speech, we will not hold to the targets 1.5, even 2 degrees unless all major emitters contribute to reaching that target. China is the world's largest emitter, its actions will determine whether we can achieve our target. So, we all have to be part of it.

The point I was making in the speech is that you speak with the weight of moral authority. I have been to Atoll nations, I've been to Tuvalu, I've been to the northern Pacific. I've spoken with people who are affected by rising salinity from sea levels. You speak with authority about now and I hope you can use that authority so that all major emitters, and all countries do what we need to do to reach our targets.

Journalist: We've heard a lot of [indistinct] under the Vuvale Partnership. Just wondering, under this one family partnership, when can Fijians hope to see the visa policy in effect?

Foreign Minister: Look, I want to see more movement between the people of the Pacific and Australia. And you've seen it since we came to government, the things we have put in place to enable that, whether it's more PALM workers or the pilot for families to accompany or the Pacific Engagement Visa, which is a pathway to people coming to Australia or under the Falepili Union with Tuvalu, a dedicated migration stream. So, I think you can see we are working to try and make sure we have more capacity to have the movement of people to and from across the Pacific.

Journalist: My question is to do with Australian leadership with regards to diplomatic partnership and foreign aid. With the gap left behind with the US president pulling US aid, a lot of which has affected the Pacific there's a big call, there's a lot of conversations asking for who will fill that vacuum. Can the people of the Pacific look to Australia to support them in the way that the Americans have left them?

Foreign Minister: Well, we're here to stay. I can say to you, we take our place in the Pacific family seriously. We take our membership of that family seriously. We recognise our responsibility and our friendship and our partnership with you and we approach the relationship with respect a degree of understanding.

In terms of the global aid cuts and the decisions by the US Administration, we have already taken some decisions in response to that. So, in the last Budget we lifted our development assistance, so it is at a higher level than it has ever been. We have also reprioritised that assistance because of the need in our region and because of the consequences of some of the US aid cuts. So, we have about 75 cents in every Australian development dollar comes to the region, comes to our broader region. And of course, we have a strong bilateral development program with the countries of the Pacific, including Fiji, where I think the last annual bilateral program was $123 million. So, I think we are providing that leadership. We're not a superpower, but we are a committed, constant member of the Pacific family.

Journalist: Minister, I have two questions. There have been some concerns in the kava industry that the ongoing kava pilot will be affected by alleged smuggling of kava into a lot of territory. What reassurance can you give to kava exporting countries that the borders will remain open for the legal trade of the kava into Australia?

Foreign Minister: So, a number of leaders from different countries in the region have spoken to me about the importance of kava as an export. We are engaging in a pilot to enable more kava exports. We do have different jurisdictions in Australia, so obviously there are some different rules and regulations which apply in different parts of Australia, but we will keep working as a Commonwealth Government to assist in enabling that export. We know there's demand for it and we know how important it is to your industry here.

Journalist: With the recent announcement of a $4 million health plan, is there any similar plan to help Fiji address its [indistinct]?

Foreign Minister: Just to be clear, the $4 million is additional funding, but there's obviously an existing bilateral and regional set of health programs which matter.

Look, Prime Minister Rabuka discussed the challenge of drugs with the Assistant Minister and I today. There are many fronts on which that problem has to be tackled. Obviously, there are health issues, but there's also law enforcement and transnational crime. Now, I know the AFP work closely with the Fijian authorities. These are issues that we have to work on together and we're committed to doing that.

Journalist: With regards to climate change, I'm just following up from Janice's question. As per your speech, can we expect the Labor Government to now look at reducing expansion in coal mines? Will you consider less licences for extractive industries?

Foreign Minister: I think what you have seen since we've been in Government is actually much more approval of renewable energy projects. So, what we will continue to do is expand our renewable energy industry. I've been the Climate Minister, so I can't express to you how important that is because there is no switch where we flick off hydrocarbons and turn on renewables. If that were the case, the world would have been a much easier place 20 years ago. And this is you've got to change not just your generation sources, but also your transmission system. In a large country like Australia, we have to change the way our electricity is transmitted. Similarly, I'm sure here in Fiji and other parts of the Pacific, how you produce your energy, but also how you deliver it will have to change as you transition to more renewables. So, I think what you'll see is a continued increase in the number of renewable energy projects which are approved.

Journalist: I wanted to talk to you about the impact of cuts to programs that specifically target diversity. It's something you have been a strong advocate for over many years. What is your message to people that are having those programs affected and that were recipients and benefits of these programs in a world where it feels like [indistinct].

Foreign Minister: I can only speak for Australia, first, and Australia regards diversity as a strength. Our Parliament, our Cabinet, our Labor Government is a demonstration of the diversity of Australia and we believe it is a strength and we bring that philosophy and that belief to our development program and we'll continue to do so.

Thank you.