Anthony Albanese clinches treaty talks with Fiji ahead of Pacific Island Forum

Anthony Albanese has progressed a treaty with Fiji ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum in the Solomon Islands, part of Australia’s push to cement its strategic foothold in the region amid China’s growing influence.

After a bilateral meeting with Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka in Honiara on Wednesday morning, Mr Albanese said the pair had discussed upgrading their security and economic agreement to a treaty-level agreement.

The PM told media he didn’t want to “preempt” details before they were negotiated but suggested it could include an increased security relationship, ranging from ramping up interoperability, engagement between defence forces, and expanded policing.

“I don’t want to preempt the discussions at early stages but certainly the relationship with Fiji is an important one. Fiji has a very significant position in the Pacific. Prime Minister Rabuka is a good friend of Australia and he is a significant leader here,” Mr Albanese said.

The success with Fiji comes after the Albanese government negotiated treaty-level agreements with Tuvalu and Nauru but failed to finalise its bid for a long-awaited pact with Vanuatu.

Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat had stalled talks on the $500m “Nakamal Agreement” on Tuesday saying it would overly constrain its capacity to receive funding from other nations for critical infrastructure projects.

It comes as Beijing seeks to deepen ties with the Pacific and fund a series of infrastructure projects.

The agreements with Tuvalu and Nauru had granted Australia de facto veto rights over any security and military agreements with countries.

Australia’s development efforts to shore up strategic partnerships around the forum followed a warning by Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jnr — host of next year’s PIF summit — at a Hawaii forum that the Pacific was “already at war” with China.

“We must help our people understand because of our location, we are under constant threat – I might venture to say we are already at war – and the best way to combat this is through partnership with like-minded nations who believe that peace comes through strength and presence is deterrence,” Mr Whipps Jr said.

China’s presence in the region was illustrated when Mr Albanese touched down in Solomon Islands on Wednesday, after he was transported to the summit in a Chinese-made Great Wall SUV, gifted to the nation by Beijing for the summit.

Mr Albanese brushed off questions about the transportation at a press conference on Wednesday, saying “cars get you from A to B”.

Later on Wednesday, all nations are expected to come together to sign a climate treaty for more resilience funding.