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Canberra is a on a mission to ensure it is “the partner of choice” in the region, Anthony Albanese’s Pacific tsar has said as Australia and Fiji edge closer to a landmark security pact.
Holding both the defence industry and Pacific ministries, Pat Conroy is at the centre of Australia’s battle with China for regional influence.
He and Foreign Minister Penny Wong this week agreed to establish the Vuvale Union with Fiji – a defence treaty that would slam the door on Beijing’s bids for a security deal with one of Australia’s closest neighbours.
Mr Conroy on Thursday hailed it as “a significant elevation in our relationship between our two countries” that built on “the success we’ve had in the Pacific in reaching strategic agreements with other countries”.
“Whether it’s the Falepili Union with Tuvalu, the Nauru-Australia Treaty or the alliance with Papua New Guinea, this is a government committed to making sure we’re the partner of choice in the Pacific because we’ve been very open that there is a constant and permanent state of contest in the region for influence,” Mr Conroy told ABC radio.
He would not “go into the details” of the new agreement with Fiji, noting that “we’re still negotiating”.
“But what I can say is the security element will be there,” he said.
“After climate change, the number one security threat to Fiji is transnational crime, and in particular drug smuggling.”
He also said there “will be a significant elevation of our people to people links” and “our economic work together to grow the Fijian economy”.
China has been trying to get a military foothold in the region and in recent years stepped up its defence activities, including by sending warships to circumnavigate Australia and carry out live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea.
It last year scuppered a security deal between Australia and Vanuatu, with some members of Vanuatu’s complex coalition government fearing the agreement would stop funds flowing from Beijing.
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