Time to reflect on the past present and future
BAustralian High Commissioner to Fiji and Special Envoy for the Pacific and Regional Affairs.
ULA Vinaka! Australia Day is often a chance for Australians to reflect on the past, present and future – to think about where we have been and where we are going as a nation.
As I look back on the 12 months since the last Australia Day, it is wonderful to reflect on the partnership Australia and Fiji are building, a partnership that has broadened and deepened to meet our challenges and those of our region.
Our Vuvale Partnership, which our Prime Ministers renewed and elevated in October, reflects this growth, including our increased focus on issues such as economics and trade, climate change, human development and First Nations peoples and culture. It reflects how we work together as genuine partners, listening and speaking carefully with mutual trust, respect and understanding.
The same week our Prime Ministers met in Australia; global events underscored the nature of our relationship as true Vuvale. When the Hamas-Israel conflict broke out, both Fijian and Australian citizens found themselves unable to get home. Fiji responded by helping to fly 13 Australians out of Tel Aviv. Shortly after, Australia helped repatriate 30 of Fiji's citizens – that is what family is about: counting on each other in need.
Many Australians see Fiji as their home away from home and continue to visit in growing numbers. Australia remains the largest source of overseas visitors to Fiji, with monthly visitor arrivals consistently surpassing pre-COVID levels.
Our ties are also strengthened by the many Fijians who travel to Australia, including those who take up job opportunities and support families back home, with remittances to Fiji from Australia averaging $F39 million monthly.
We know efficient visa arrangements underpin our people-to-people ties, which is why we have worked to successfully reduce processing times for Fijian visa applications, including through Australia's new Pacific Service Centre teams in Brisbane, Suva, Port Vila and Port Moresby.
These centres prioritise processing visas for Pacific businesspeople, tourists and short-stay visitors. Most visitor visas are now finalised in under 14 days, down from 36 days in January 2023.
Trade continues to flourish, with exports of goods and services from Fiji continuing to grow. This includes Fijian kava, which continues to be sold into the Australian market, to the great appreciation of our growing Pacific community and others who enjoy the kava experience. Australian companies are also increasingly looking to Fiji for business outsourcing services.
As we continue working with Fiji to grow trade and tourism in 2024, Australia is providing enhanced support to facilitate genuine trade and travel while enhancing border security measures in Fiji. Through newly established Australian Border Force positions, we are working side by side with Fiji's border and law enforcement agencies to strengthen Fiji's borders further.
Australia and Fiji continue to work together to make our Blue Pacific a safer place, with the Pacific Island Chiefs of Police hosted in Australia last year. In Fiji, we are collaborating to enhance Fiji's domestic policing capabilities, including delivering an additional police command centre and training in areas ranging from intelligence to digital forensics. We have never worked more closely on complex transnational investigations, most recently on Fiji's largest drug seizure.
This year will bring ongoing defence cooperation in maritime security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, peacekeeping, engineering, infrastructure and training. This includes the handover of a new Guardian Class Patrol Boat and the completion of the Maritime Essential Services Centre to enhance maritime security and coordination. Fiji will also receive fourteen Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles to support global peacekeeping operations. At the request of Fiji, a regular rotation of a Royal Australian Air Force C-27 aircraft will support the development of Fiji's air transport and surveillance capabilities.
We wouldn't be family without some rivalry. In 2023, we faced each other at the Rugby World Cup, where the Flying Fijians achieved a historic victory over Australia after 69 years to make the Quarter Finals. If Australia was going to be beaten by anyone, losing to family helped soften the blow. Many Aussies were cheering loudly for Fiji in the Quarter Finals – and the Flying Fijians were so close to winning.
I look forward to seeing the Fijian and Fijiana Drua reach new heights in the Super Rugby and Super W competitions this year – I reckon Fijiana are lining up for a hat trick of premierships in just their third year. The men will be looking to continue their massive improvement after their historic finals appearance last year.
As we look to 2024, we know it will not be without its challenges. Climate change remains the biggest threat facing our region.
Australia understands our duty to amplify the collective Pacific voice and to act. Prime Minister Rabuka's address to the COP28 Leaders' Summit in December last year was a powerful reminder that all nations have a collective responsibility to combat climate change for generations to come.
Australia is taking real climate action and intends to become a renewable energy superpower. We have an ambitious goal to reach 82 per cent renewable electricity generation by 2030 – a huge transformation from 32 per cent in May 2022.
Australia is also supporting the Pacific's transition to renewable energy, helping countries build climate resilience and sharing our innovations in climate adaptation. This includes Australia's $100 million contribution to the Pacific Resilience Facility – the first Pacific-led, owned, and managed community resilience financing facility, which will support locally-led, small-scale climate and disaster resilience projects across the region.
We share an ocean and a future as custodians of the vast Blue Pacific continent. It is critical we safeguard it for future generations.
Other challenges are no doubt around the corner. But as we mark Australia Day in 2024, I am reassured by Australia and Fiji's commitment to working together to navigate our shared challenges and safeguard our collective peace and security.
Today, Australians from all backgrounds and communities come together to share stories, embrace our diversity, and celebrate our unity. We celebrate the significant contribution that everyone makes to our nation, from First Nations Australians who have cared for our beautiful lands and waterways for more than 60,000 years to our newest residents. This includes the close to 69,000 people born in Fiji who currently call Australia home and contribute immensely to the social and cultural richness of communities across Australia.
I look forward to seeing what 2024 will bring for Australia and Fiji and the remarkable things we can achieve together. I wish everyone a blessed Australia Day.