Foreign Minister Penny Wong has announced a new eight-year partnership with Samoa to help address human development in the Pacific island nation, as well as a new maritime patrol for the country.
Key points:
- Australia will give a Guardian-class patrol boat to Samoa after the country’s Nafanua II ran aground
- Ms Wong said Australia was “deeply committed” to taking action against climate change
- Prime Minister Fiame said the Pacific should jointly consider China’s development proposals
The Partnership for Human Development and Social Inclusion will address the country’s most “critical” challenges, Ms Wong said from Samoa’s capital, Apia.
He also revealed that next year Australia will give a Guardian glass patrol boat to Samoa, after the country’s Nafanua II ran aground on a reef in August 2021.
“We understand the importance of these maritime assets for island nations,” Ms. Wong told reporters at the joint news conference.
Samoa launched a commission of inquiry after the two-year-old ship ran aground, and has since left a huge gap in the country’s maritime surveillance capabilities.
Samoa Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa welcomed the announcement by the Foreign Minister and said the new ship would be key to protecting the maritime security of the Pacific nation.
“I think it’s very generous of the Australian government and people to give us another patrol boat despite the unfortunate circumstances of our last boat,” Fiame said.
Penny Wong said Australia would enter into a new eight-year partnership with Samoa. (ABC News)
On climate change, Ms Wong said Australia was committed to reducing emissions and that the new government was “elected with a mandate to do so”.
“I want to be very clear that we are deeply committed to taking stronger action on the climate,” Ms. Wong.
Ms. Wong’s visit to Apia coincided with the 60th anniversary of Samoa’s independence and was her second visit to the Pacific as foreign minister after taking the oath of office nine days ago.
Last week he traveled to Fiji to support the new government’s renewed focus on climate change and support for continued aid to the region before Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in the country.
After visiting Samoa, Ms Wong will travel to Tonga to meet with Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku and Foreign Minister Fekitamoeloa ‘Utoikamanu, where they are expected to discuss further aid to the archipelago. affected by a volcanic eruption and a tsunami.
Fiame says the region should jointly consider China’s proposals
Ms Fiame rejected claims that Samoa had signed a Pacific-wide agreement with China and stressed that the Pacific island nations had to agree on any proposals from across the region before accepting them. .
His comments came when Mr. Wang visited the region this week to reach an agreement across the region with 10 Pacific nations, including Samoa, Fiji and the Solomon Islands.
Prime Minister Fiame says Pacific development proposals require regional agreement (AFP: Faith in One Samoan God (FAST))
Pacific leaders have moved away from the broad proposal of security, free trade, police cooperation and disaster resilience after failing to reach a consensual decision.
Fiame said his country’s position was that the Pacific nations could not reach an agreement if all the nations involved had not had the opportunity to discuss it.
“Being called to have the discussion and having the expectation that there would be a decision or an overall outcome was something we could not agree on,” Fiame said of the agreement proposed by China.
“I think the region has come to this conclusion, that we need to come together as a region to consider any proposals made to us by our development partners that require a regional agreement.”
The President of the Federated States of Micronesia, David Panuelo, warned the nations of the Pacific before Wang’s visit that the agreement could trigger a new Cold War.
Posted 1 hour ago 1 hour ago Thu, June 2, 2022 at 3:40 AM, updated 7 m ago, 7 minutes ago, Thu, June 2, 2022 at 4:52 AM