Key Points
- Australia's relationship with Pacific island nations has been strengthened, Anthony Albanese says.
- The Pacific Islands Forum wrapped up in Suva, Fiji, on Thursday following an all-day leaders retreat.
Members of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), including Australia, are expected to declare the region is facing a "climate emergency", in a yet-to-be-released communique following the summit in Fiji.
Pacific leaders emphasised the need to immediately act to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, while welcoming the new Australian government's position on climate action.
Australia's headline pledge is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, a target some experts say is inconsistent with limiting global warming to 1.5C.
"It's one thing to declare a climate emergency, but it’s another thing to act upon it," Dr Wesley Morgan, Climate Council senior researcher said.
"You can't tell Pacific nations you're serious about tackling the climate emergency, and bid to host the world's most important climate summit, while continuing to fuel the flames by approving massive new gas projects.
"Australia has a long way to go."
Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said on Thursday he has been "clear and consistent" in every meeting he held this week about the need for "more ambitious climate commitments".
"Most urgently, it requires that we end our fossil fuel addiction, including coal. That is our ask of Australia," he said.
On Twitter, Mr Bainimarama repeated his call for Australia to go further.
"Australia's new climate pledge is a step-up that Fiji has long sought - but out of the duty I owe every young person in the Pacific, I have urged (Mr Albanese) to go further for our family's shared future by aligning Australia's commitment to the 1.5-degree target," he posted.
Following Labor's election win in May, Australia's climate ambitions have extended to hosting a forthcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference on behalf of the Pacific.
"They (the forum members) all expressed support for the bid and you'll see that reflected in the communique," Mr Albanese said on Thursday.
Australia-Pacific relations 'strengthened' by meeting
Speaking in Suva on Friday, Mr Albanese said Australia's influence in the region had been "enhanced" following the summit.
"Our partnerships have been strengthened by this meeting, it was really constructive the way that we dealt with each other," he said.
"Building up a relationship of trust isn't something that just happens ... and I'm very positive about going forward."
Mr Albanese said he had been invited to visit every one of the forum states and that the government's minister for the Pacific, Pat Conroy, would respond to those invitations over the next 12 months.
The prime minister will depart Suva for home later on Friday after confirming plans for an Australia-Pacific labour mobility scheme, in particular for Fiji citizens.
"So what you will have is people participating in the Australian labour market for four years then returning, having increased skills, having access to the sorts of different experiences," he said.
Mr Albanese has pledged to make seasonal worker programs more attractive by allowing families to apply to travel together.
A line also appears to have been drawn under Solomon Islands' flirtation with closer security ties with China.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare told journalists an agreement signed earlier this year would not lead to a Chinese military facility being set up on Australia's doorstep.
"The moment we establish a foreign military base, we immediately become an enemy. And we also put our country and our people as targets for potential military strikes," he said.
"There is no military base, nor any other military facility, or institutions in the agreement."
Mr Albanese said on Friday the forum's final communique made clear that while sovereign nations have the right to make their own decisions "we are responsible as a Pacific family for security".
