Key Points
- Mr Conroy received reassurances Australia remained the island nation's security partner of choice.
- Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said his country has a "very cordial" relationship with Australia.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare says his country has a "very cordial" relationship with Australia and that it is the Pacific nation's development partner of choice, denying it had been "soured" by a controversial security pact with China.
Mr Sogavare spoke to SBS News after a meeting with Australia's Pacific Minister Pat Conroy and an event where Canberra pledged $17 million (100 million Solomon Islands dollars) towards the Pacific Games in 2023. China is offering $30.3m (172 million Solomon Islands dollars) in funding to build the Games Village.
Three years ago, Solomon Islands ended 36 years of diplomatic relations with Taiwan and switched allegiance to China. In April, that rocked the Indo-Pacific region, stoking geopolitical tensions.
Australia has expressed concern about China's influence in the Pacific region, but Mr Sogavare told SBS News: "It's a partner of choice, we’ve made it very clear. I think we had a very fruitful discussion in a meeting this morning, as always.
"It's really like a family. We will have differences, but you know, we sort them out. It's nothing really."
Speaking earlier, Mr Conroy says he received reassurances Australia remained the island nation's security partner of choice and there would be no foreign military bases or persistent military presence in Solomon Islands.
"It was a very warm and friendly meeting and we discussed a range of issues. Our security partnership was obviously one part of that," Mr Conroy told reporters in the capital, Honiara, on Tuesday.
"The prime minister repeated his assurance Australia is the security partner of choice for the Solomon Islands, and the Solomon Islands government would come to Australia first if there are any gaps that need to be filled."
The minister and Vice Admiral Hammond also met with local police minister, Anthony Veke.
But Mr Conroy didn't directly speak to China's influence in the region when asked by reporters.
"That's a question for the government of China about their interest in this region," he said.
"What I'm interested in is how Australia can be a true and faithful member of the Pacific family, how we can listen to the priorities of our Pacific family and act upon them, and the number one is climate change."
US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said during her visit to Canberra on Monday, following a trip through Samoa, Tonga and Solomon Islands, that "climate is such an existential threat and it's understood so powerfully out here".
US President Joe Biden is due to host leaders of Pacific island nations at the White House in September and Australia's Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones is heading to Vanuatu for a meeting of economic ministers.
Ms Sherman's trip through the region, where she visited Honiara over the weekend with US ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy, comes as domestic tensions rise in the Solomons.
Mr Sogavare has since moved to amend the constitution to extend his time in office by delaying elections until the end of 2023.
The prime minister has nominated the Pacific Games as the reason for the postponement, saying voter registration wouldn't be possible due to preparations.
The opposition has branded the move a power play.
"Many of us think it is an attempt to stay in power and using the Games as an excuse," Opposition MP Peter Kenilorea Jnr has said.
"There's a lot of time to have the elections as well as enjoy the Games later that year in November 2023."
