Diving deeper into the Pacific

The Albanese government is eyeing more integration in the Pacific with the tiny nation of Nauru being the next target for bilateral agreements designed to quell the threat of China.

The Albanese government is looking at options for supporting Nauru – which has been the home of Australia’s refugee offshore processing program – after similar moves with Tuvalu and Papua New Guinea. Kiribati is also a potential option for bilateral arrangements.

It is not yet clear what a potential deal could involve but the government has looked at supporting Pacific nations with climate change and security concerns as well as migration.

At the Pacific Islands Forum, Mr Albanese struck a historic treaty with Tuvalu to house the first climate refugees under a new visa category and last month the government signed a deal to support Papua New Guinea with its security needs.

In the final week of parliament, PNG Prime Minister James Marape addressed the Australian parliament in the same way Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had addressed the PNG parliament in January.

“What we have seen under the Albanese government is a real desire to listen to what the priorities are in the Pacific and act on them, we had Prime Minister Albanese go to PNG in January and be the first Prime Minister to address the parliament,” he said.

“We are thinking about regional pacific security where countries in the pacific come together to support each other.

“A great example recently was at the Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands. The Royal Solomon Islands police force provided the operational security and the people supporting them were a multinational force including 150 (Australian) police, 350 ADF, there was over 100 Papua New Guinean police there. There were Fijian troops, New Zealand forces.”

Pacific Minister Pat Conroy is also planning on expanding a new Australian-funded police training centre in PNG so other Pacific nations can send their citizens there to train using Australian resources.