
Foreign minister to blitz key Pacific island states
The foreign minister will visit Vanuatu, Tonga and Fiji across three days in the region, visiting new prime ministers in Port Vila and Nuku'alofa, along with the region's centre of diplomacy.
Senator Wong will be joined by Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Matt Thistlethwaite in what will be his first official overseas trip.
Near the top of Senator Wong's agenda will be COP31, the UN climate change conference it is hoping to co-host with the region next year.
Turkey is also contending for hosting rights of the 2026 talks.
While Australia would hold the summit, with Adelaide proposed as the host city, Vanuatu climate minister Ralph Regenvanu reminded his counterparts in Canberra the Pacific had high expectations of climate progress.
"We would expect equal say in what happens at the COP and what the outcomes will be," he said.
"We expect the Albanese government to stop approving new oil and gas projects.
"We expect and we want to see an outcome of COP31 being financing of a just transition across the Pacific so that we become the first region in the world to become completely renewable in our identification."
Mr Regenvanu said his views were felt across the Pacific, citing Palau's President Surangel Whipps Jr's statements while in Sydney last month as evidence.
In a keynote address to the Lowy Institute, Mr Whipps Jr lashed Australia's fossil fuel exports, which he said was responsible for 4.5 per cent of global emissions.
He also called for Australia to phase out coal and gas production and halt the approval of new fossil fuel projects "as the Pacific region faces the dire consequences of the climate crisis".
The whole region would be making a similar request "so that we can advance our stated indices towards the fossil fuel-free Pacific by 2050", Mr Regenvanu said.
Alongside climate talks, Senator Wong is likely to revisit a bilateral security agreement agreed between Australia and Vanuatu that remains unratified in Port Vila.
Australia agreed to that deal during a barnstorming start to Senator Wong's tenure, when the South Australian visited all 17 other Pacific Islands Forum members within 12 months of becoming foreign minister in 2022.
Since that pact, Vanuatu has changed prime minister twice, with Jotham Napat's government disinclined to ratify the agreement until it is modified.
Senator Wong will meet with Mr Napat and his senior ministers while in Port Vila.
"We will reaffirm Australia's commitment to elevate our bilateral relationship through the development of the Nakamal Agreement with Vanuatu," Senator Wong said in a pre-departure statement.
She will also meet with Tonga's prime minister 'Aisake Eke, who took the office in January, and also assumed position of the Pacific Islands Forum chair, as well as Foreign Affairs Minister Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala.
In Suva, she will hold talks with Sitiveni Rabuka, the veteran Fijian prime minister.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong will blitz three key Pacific island nations in her first standalone trip after Labor's landslide re-election.
The foreign minister will visit Vanuatu, Tonga and Fiji across three days in the region, visiting new prime ministers in Port Vila and Nuku'alofa, along with the region's centre of diplomacy.
Senator Wong will be joined by Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Matt Thistlethwaite in what will be his first official overseas trip.
Near the top of Senator Wong's agenda will be COP31, the UN climate change conference it is hoping to co-host with the region next year.
Turkey is also contending for hosting rights of the 2026 talks.
While Australia would hold the summit, with Adelaide proposed as the host city, Vanuatu climate minister Ralph Regenvanu reminded his counterparts in Canberra the Pacific had high expectations of climate progress.
"We would expect equal say in what happens at the COP and what the outcomes will be," he said.
"We expect the Albanese government to stop approving new oil and gas projects.
"We expect and we want to see an outcome of COP31 being financing of a just transition across the Pacific so that we become the first region in the world to become completely renewable in our identification."
Mr Regenvanu said his views were felt across the Pacific, citing Palau's President Surangel Whipps Jr's statements while in Sydney last month as evidence.
In a keynote address to the Lowy Institute, Mr Whipps Jr lashed Australia's fossil fuel exports, which he said was responsible for 4.5 per cent of global emissions.
He also called for Australia to phase out coal and gas production and halt the approval of new fossil fuel projects "as the Pacific region faces the dire consequences of the climate crisis".
The whole region would be making a similar request "so that we can advance our stated indices towards the fossil fuel-free Pacific by 2050", Mr Regenvanu said.
Alongside climate talks, Senator Wong is likely to revisit a bilateral security agreement agreed between Australia and Vanuatu that remains unratified in Port Vila.
Australia agreed to that deal during a barnstorming start to Senator Wong's tenure, when the South Australian visited all 17 other Pacific Islands Forum members within 12 months of becoming foreign minister in 2022.
Since that pact, Vanuatu has changed prime minister twice, with Jotham Napat's government disinclined to ratify the agreement until it is modified.
Senator Wong will meet with Mr Napat and his senior ministers while in Port Vila.
"We will reaffirm Australia's commitment to elevate our bilateral relationship through the development of the Nakamal Agreement with Vanuatu," Senator Wong said in a pre-departure statement.
She will also meet with Tonga's prime minister 'Aisake Eke, who took the office in January, and also assumed position of the Pacific Islands Forum chair, as well as Foreign Affairs Minister Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala.
In Suva, she will hold talks with Sitiveni Rabuka, the veteran Fijian prime minister.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong will blitz three key Pacific island nations in her first standalone trip after Labor's landslide re-election.
The foreign minister will visit Vanuatu, Tonga and Fiji across three days in the region, visiting new prime ministers in Port Vila and Nuku'alofa, along with the region's centre of diplomacy.
Senator Wong will be joined by Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Matt Thistlethwaite in what will be his first official overseas trip.
Near the top of Senator Wong's agenda will be COP31, the UN climate change conference it is hoping to co-host with the region next year.
Turkey is also contending for hosting rights of the 2026 talks.
While Australia would hold the summit, with Adelaide proposed as the host city, Vanuatu climate minister Ralph Regenvanu reminded his counterparts in Canberra the Pacific had high expectations of climate progress.
"We would expect equal say in what happens at the COP and what the outcomes will be," he said.
"We expect the Albanese government to stop approving new oil and gas projects.
"We expect and we want to see an outcome of COP31 being financing of a just transition across the Pacific so that we become the first region in the world to become completely renewable in our identification."
Mr Regenvanu said his views were felt across the Pacific, citing Palau's President Surangel Whipps Jr's statements while in Sydney last month as evidence.
In a keynote address to the Lowy Institute, Mr Whipps Jr lashed Australia's fossil fuel exports, which he said was responsible for 4.5 per cent of global emissions.
He also called for Australia to phase out coal and gas production and halt the approval of new fossil fuel projects "as the Pacific region faces the dire consequences of the climate crisis".
The whole region would be making a similar request "so that we can advance our stated indices towards the fossil fuel-free Pacific by 2050", Mr Regenvanu said.
Alongside climate talks, Senator Wong is likely to revisit a bilateral security agreement agreed between Australia and Vanuatu that remains unratified in Port Vila.
Australia agreed to that deal during a barnstorming start to Senator Wong's tenure, when the South Australian visited all 17 other Pacific Islands Forum members within 12 months of becoming foreign minister in 2022.
Since that pact, Vanuatu has changed prime minister twice, with Jotham Napat's government disinclined to ratify the agreement until it is modified.
Senator Wong will meet with Mr Napat and his senior ministers while in Port Vila.
"We will reaffirm Australia's commitment to elevate our bilateral relationship through the development of the Nakamal Agreement with Vanuatu," Senator Wong said in a pre-departure statement.
She will also meet with Tonga's prime minister 'Aisake Eke, who took the office in January, and also assumed position of the Pacific Islands Forum chair, as well as Foreign Affairs Minister Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala.
In Suva, she will hold talks with Sitiveni Rabuka, the veteran Fijian prime minister.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong will blitz three key Pacific island nations in her first standalone trip after Labor's landslide re-election.
The foreign minister will visit Vanuatu, Tonga and Fiji across three days in the region, visiting new prime ministers in Port Vila and Nuku'alofa, along with the region's centre of diplomacy.
Senator Wong will be joined by Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Matt Thistlethwaite in what will be his first official overseas trip.
Near the top of Senator Wong's agenda will be COP31, the UN climate change conference it is hoping to co-host with the region next year.
Turkey is also contending for hosting rights of the 2026 talks.
While Australia would hold the summit, with Adelaide proposed as the host city, Vanuatu climate minister Ralph Regenvanu reminded his counterparts in Canberra the Pacific had high expectations of climate progress.
"We would expect equal say in what happens at the COP and what the outcomes will be," he said.
"We expect the Albanese government to stop approving new oil and gas projects.
"We expect and we want to see an outcome of COP31 being financing of a just transition across the Pacific so that we become the first region in the world to become completely renewable in our identification."
Mr Regenvanu said his views were felt across the Pacific, citing Palau's President Surangel Whipps Jr's statements while in Sydney last month as evidence.
In a keynote address to the Lowy Institute, Mr Whipps Jr lashed Australia's fossil fuel exports, which he said was responsible for 4.5 per cent of global emissions.
He also called for Australia to phase out coal and gas production and halt the approval of new fossil fuel projects "as the Pacific region faces the dire consequences of the climate crisis".
The whole region would be making a similar request "so that we can advance our stated indices towards the fossil fuel-free Pacific by 2050", Mr Regenvanu said.
Alongside climate talks, Senator Wong is likely to revisit a bilateral security agreement agreed between Australia and Vanuatu that remains unratified in Port Vila.
Australia agreed to that deal during a barnstorming start to Senator Wong's tenure, when the South Australian visited all 17 other Pacific Islands Forum members within 12 months of becoming foreign minister in 2022.
Since that pact, Vanuatu has changed prime minister twice, with Jotham Napat's government disinclined to ratify the agreement until it is modified.
Senator Wong will meet with Mr Napat and his senior ministers while in Port Vila.
"We will reaffirm Australia's commitment to elevate our bilateral relationship through the development of the Nakamal Agreement with Vanuatu," Senator Wong said in a pre-departure statement.
She will also meet with Tonga's prime minister 'Aisake Eke, who took the office in January, and also assumed position of the Pacific Islands Forum chair, as well as Foreign Affairs Minister Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala.
In Suva, she will hold talks with Sitiveni Rabuka, the veteran Fijian prime minister.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Sydney Morning Herald
14 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Economic summit in danger of becoming a bureaucratic gabfest
The Albanese government's upcoming economic reform roundtable should seize the opportunity to reset Australia's future agenda. Instead, it looks in danger of turning into a bureaucrats' jamboree with the usual suspects pontificating on a system they are by and large responsible for creating. We know that tax will be the big ticket item at the August 19-21 summit and the heavily curated roundtable invitees certainly know their taxes, budgets and politics. And economic resilience, productivity and budgets are on the agenda. But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's refusal to consider changing the GST is already tying one of the government's hands behind its back and the exclusion of those major players in taxation and deregulation, states and territories, is a further handicap. As the Herald 's senior economic correspondent Shane Wright has pointed out, it is not tax that will lift living standards and Australia's ability to pay for goods and services – it will be technology. The telephone, the internal combustion engine and the lightbulb were three of the most transformative pieces of technology. Now 150 or so years later AI is poised to change lives. Yet, there are no scientists or creative minds invited to the roundtable. Rather, Wright says participants are policy wonks reared in a culture that believes problems deserve a 'policy' solution when the real and most far-reaching solutions come from people who think differently. Adding some variety to the mix, the Productivity Commission is expected to release a series of reports on productivity that will provide data and ideas to the summit outside tax issues. And business has established an umbrella organisation to put forward recommendations, including on investment, innovation, reducing red tape, planning and approval processes, tax, education and employment. While incoming Coalition governments stay well clear of such talkfest, this is the fourth stab Labor has had at post election summits. The first, Bob Hawke's April 1983 economic summit, discussed economic strategy, the approach to unemployment and inflation, and a prices and incomes accord and was deemed an extraordinary success. Twenty-five years later, prime minister Kevin Rudd's talkfest, when 1000 of Australia's better thinkers gathered to ponder the future, is generally considered to have amounted to little and is mainly remembered for Rudd's awkward love-in with actors Cate Blanchett and Hugh Jackman. That said, good ideas came out of both the Hawke and Rudd summits, but more went missing in action at the hands of compliance. The challenge facing next month's roundtable is to ensure that the reforms are not lost in bureaucracy. After a tepid first term record on policy innovation, including a 2022 jobs and skills summit that stampeded business with its union-friendly re-regulation of the workplace system, we would have thought the Albanese government could afford to have been more adventurous with its roundtable summit. Labor is unlikely to enjoy such a massive mandate again. In such circumstances, timidity is not an option and the Albanese government cannot hide behind bureaucracy but should use the summit to promulgate wide-ranging and much needed reforms.


West Australian
2 hours ago
- West Australian
Risk of higher US tariffs looms despite beef deal
Australia's move to lift restrictions on US beef is unlikely to shift the dial on tariff negotiations, as the nation's products face the possibility of even steeper duties. The Albanese government will allow access to US beef that has been raised in Canada or Mexico but processed in America, following a safety review. Australia is subject to a baseline 10 per cent tariff applied by the Trump administration and has been keeping an eye on the trade negotiations of other countries. AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said Donald Trump's flagged higher tariffs might include the nation's exports. "The risk for Australia is that we may be lucky to hang on to 10 per cent, which could actually turn out to be higher," he told AAP. "This (beef decision) might help us hang on to 10 per cent or avoid a worse outcome, but I don't think there's any guarantees of that." American beef was banned from Australia almost two decades ago following an outbreak of mad cow disease. Mr Trump has pressured the government to ease restrictions as Labor argues for an exemption from the tariffs as part of the US president's deepening trade war. Former ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos said while biosecurity investigations can take a while to finalise, it was a "sensible outcome". "The challenge here is it doesn't look like we're putting together a package deal," he said. "It'd be better if there was a package approach to this if we're seeking to gather an overall trade outcome with the US." Australian Farm Institute executive director Katie McRobert said the cattle industry has been "extremely nervous" about biosecurity traceability from different parts of the north and South America regions. "We wouldn't expect a significant impact on Australian producers from the potential to import American beef ... because we already produce far more beef in Australia than we can possibly eat," she said. Trade Minister Don Farrell said he didn't have any meetings scheduled with American counterparts after last meeting US trade representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of an OECD ministerial meeting in Paris in June. Senator Farrell said Mr Greer didn't raise beef concerns at that meeting. "We believe that America should lift those tariffs on Australia, there's no justification whatsoever for the United States to apply tariffs to Australia," he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday. "We have a free trade agreement, that agreement makes it very clear that it's a tariff free arrangement." Senator Farrell also denied the move was to create a bargaining chip. The Philippines and Japan recently struck agreements with the US to lower their tariff rates, but both are still above the 10 per cent baseline.


Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Risk of higher US tariffs looms despite beef deal
Australia's move to lift restrictions on US beef is unlikely to shift the dial on tariff negotiations, as the nation's products face the possibility of even steeper duties. The Albanese government will allow access to US beef that has been raised in Canada or Mexico but processed in America, following a safety review. Australia is subject to a baseline 10 per cent tariff applied by the Trump administration and has been keeping an eye on the trade negotiations of other countries. AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said Donald Trump's flagged higher tariffs might include the nation's exports. "The risk for Australia is that we may be lucky to hang on to 10 per cent, which could actually turn out to be higher," he told AAP. "This (beef decision) might help us hang on to 10 per cent or avoid a worse outcome, but I don't think there's any guarantees of that." American beef was banned from Australia almost two decades ago following an outbreak of mad cow disease. Mr Trump has pressured the government to ease restrictions as Labor argues for an exemption from the tariffs as part of the US president's deepening trade war. Former ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos said while biosecurity investigations can take a while to finalise, it was a "sensible outcome". "The challenge here is it doesn't look like we're putting together a package deal," he said. "It'd be better if there was a package approach to this if we're seeking to gather an overall trade outcome with the US." Australian Farm Institute executive director Katie McRobert said the cattle industry has been "extremely nervous" about biosecurity traceability from different parts of the north and South America regions. "We wouldn't expect a significant impact on Australian producers from the potential to import American beef ... because we already produce far more beef in Australia than we can possibly eat," she said. Trade Minister Don Farrell said he didn't have any meetings scheduled with American counterparts after last meeting US trade representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of an OECD ministerial meeting in Paris in June. Senator Farrell said Mr Greer didn't raise beef concerns at that meeting. "We believe that America should lift those tariffs on Australia, there's no justification whatsoever for the United States to apply tariffs to Australia," he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday. "We have a free trade agreement, that agreement makes it very clear that it's a tariff free arrangement." Senator Farrell also denied the move was to create a bargaining chip. The Philippines and Japan recently struck agreements with the US to lower their tariff rates, but both are still above the 10 per cent baseline.