Several leaders have pulled out of a the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting in Palau at the eleventh hour. Solomon Islands prime minister, Matthew Wale, has cancelled his appearance after a no-confidence motion was lodged against him at home by the Solomon Islands home affairs minister, Manasseh Maelanga. Maelanga accused Wale of “repeatedly making decisions of matters of national importance without proper consultation with, or the approval of, cabinet, thereby undermining the principles of collective cabinet responsibility, representative democracy and good governance”, according to the ABC.
Australia has been in negotiations with the Solomons on a security treaty, with the hope that further negotiations could have taken place on the sidelines of the summit. Fiji’s prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, and his Vanuatu counterpart, Jotham Napat, will also not be attending, with the Samoan leader, La’auli Leuatea Schmidt, another notable absence. The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has confirmed he will still be attending.
Oliver Nobetau, the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands program director, said the pulling out by key leaders “dulls the flame” of the meeting. He added the leaders not showing up could be read as those nations prioritising bilateral agreements with nations including Australia above region-wide commitments. While it is a useful forum for a lot of our Pacific members, maybe the bigger countries feel there are more pressing issues or they can achieve more benefits for their countries by engaging bilaterally or directly with other partners.” Speaking at Queensland Labor conference on Sunday in Brisbane, Albanese said Australia had a duty to help Pacific nations thrive.
Albanese said allowing Pacific nations to succeed would also benefit Australia. Pacific leaders are set to discuss security and climate concerns during the summit. Albanese said Australia would also seek to reiterate support for Pacific workers coming to the country.
Debate has recently raged over how the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility Scheme cohort would factor into immigration cuts flagged by various parties. Representatives of the resurgent One Nation have been pressed to clarify that PALM workers, many of whom provide much-needed labour in regional areas, would not be included in a significant reduction to net overseas migration. Albanese said the migration discussion had been fuelling division and the Pacific worker scheme would continue because of its critical economic benefit.
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