: Australia is a proud member of the Pacific family, and it's been a great pleasure so far to participate in my fourth meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum. Investing in the security and prosperity of our Pacific neighbours helps make our region safer and helps make our economy stronger. In a time of strategic competition in our region, Australia's engagement in the Pacific Island Forum matters more than ever, as does our contribution to infrastructure, to regional security and climate action. The big challenges facing the Pacific require solutions designed and delivered for the Pacific by the Pacific. And Australia has a key role to play as a partner and as a leader. For the small island nations of the Pacific, climate change is an existential threat. And later today I will join our Pacific partners to take a decisive step forward in securing a climate resilient future. By signing the treaty to establish the Pacific Resilience Facility, we will affirm our commitment to be backing in the Pacific-led solutions to climate change impacts, and we will contribute an initial $100 million, I have confirmed, for that. This is more than a fund, though. It's a promise to Pacific communities that they will not face climate threats alone. Later today as well, Pacific leaders will also declare the Blue Pacific as an ocean of peace. This is an initiative that's been led by Prime Minister Rabuka of Fiji. This calls on the international community to respect national sovereignty and Pacific-led approaches to peace and security. Peace is not a gift and it is never a given. The Pacific has long understood the importance of working together to respond to challenges that don't respect national boundaries. And here in the Solomons, of course, we're still dealing with the consequences of World War II with some ordnance and those issues still being dealt with all these decades later. In addition to that, I had a very successful bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Rabuka. We have met pretty regularly and Prime Minister Rabuka and I last met in Newcastle, but before then in Fiji. When we met in Fiji, we spoke about upgrading the Vuvale relationship that we have to a security treaty, that would be an upgrade as well. After our discussion in Newcastle, Prime Minister Rabuka has written to me and we've responded positively and tasked our officials to see about that upgrade.
Happy to take questions. One at a time.
JOURNALIST: Has the absence of China at this summit helped negotiations along with Vanuatu and Fiji?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, it's always been focused on the Pacific. That's what the Pacific Island Forum does. The fact that there are not observers here is something that, in the past it's been allowed. The Solomon Islands chose to not allow that this time around. That's not a decision that we supported in terms of partners. We supported the status quo, but that was a decision for the Solomons.
JOURNALIST: PM, what might that Fiji treaty look like? Are you thinking of an alliance, a formal alliance. Or, and if I might add, what will you tell the Pacific family if you can't pull off COP 31?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, on the first question, what it will involve. Preliminary discussions have been about increased security agreements or upgrading our security relationship. That could range from increased interoperability, the sort of training that we're seeing with the Pacific Policing Initiative being expanded to increased engagement between our defence forces. I don't want to pre-empt the discussions, they're at early stages, but certainly the relationship with Fiji is an important one. Fiji has a very significant position in the Pacific. We'll have more to say about the relationship with Papua New Guinea next week, which is of course a very important one. But Prime Minister Rabuka is a good friend of Australia. He's a significant leader here and it's consistent with his view, which is about a promoter of peace, but also one in which he's a great supporter. Rabuka 2.0, as he calls himself, when he addressed the National Press Club, advocates for peace. And the second? Look, they understand we are putting in a bid. We are part of Western Europe in the rather strange way that some of these systems work. The difficulty that we have, as I've said, is that if there is no resolution between Türkiye and Australia, the default position is it defaults to Bonn, which would be an unfortunate outcome, I think. So, look, we're engaging constructively. Türkiye is entitled to put forward its position. It argues that it gave up the spot that Glasgow took last time around. We of course argue, together with the Pacific, that strongly supports the joint Australia-Pacific bid, that this is a part of the world that is really impacted most adversely. I think there's an argument, by climate change - countries like Tuvalu and Kiribati, their very existence is threatened by climate change. And it's appropriate, given particularly the context of where the last few COPs have been held, that it be held in our region.
JOURNALIST: Just on that, will Australia take into consideration the Pacific's calls to reduce emissions as fast as possible when it comes to our own 2035 targets?
PRIME MINISTER: We'll of course take action on climate change. It is the key to credibility. It's the entry fee, if you like, to credibility in the Pacific. We'll receive the Climate Change Authority's advice, we'll then deliberate and make a decision. It's not a matter of just plucking figures out of the air. We want to make a decision that is achievable as well and that takes into account the need for energy reliability, of course, and transition of a target that is achievable. We believe certainly the 43 per cent target is achievable. That's why it was chosen. We'll continue to work towards it.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, from Radio Torres Strait on Thursday Island -
PRIME MINISTER: Welcome. Good to see you here. Beautiful part of Australia.
JOURNALIST: Thank you, yes. What's your take on the climate change issues in the Torres Strait, in regards to some of our islands as well?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Torres Strait of course is directly impacted by climate change, like a number of low-lying areas in Australia. One of the things about climate change is that it has a particular impact on Australia. We're vulnerable, whether it be our low-lying islands or coastal areas, whether it be what we are seeing with the algal bloom in South Australia as directly related to what the science told us about climate change. The fact that the water is hotter is something that's having an impact there. You can't say that any particular weather event is just because of climate change, because Australia has always had extreme weather events. But the science told us we would have more of them and they would be more intense. And that's precisely what is playing out. More extreme weather events, including circumstances such as having a cyclone off the coast of Northern NSW and the Gold Coast, Southeast Queensland, that we saw. So, we are having that impact. We are having droughts in southern areas of Victoria and South Australia as well. And so, I have attended, every state and territory, extreme weather events since I've been Prime Minister and we certainly understand that there are consequences. And for the Torres Strait there is a great deal of concern, justifiably, about what the impact of climate change will be.
JOURNALIST: Have you discussed COP in your discussions today and have the Pacific leaders supported you in that bid to host? And also separately, were you disappointed it wasn't a Toyota Hilux meeting you here on the tarmac today?
PRIME MINISTER: It's a car. You know, cars get you from A to B.
JOURNALIST: Even though it was provided by China and not by Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Cars get you from A to B. Seriously, on the big picture issues, you ask two questions. One's about climate change and the threat to our very way of life, the impact it's having on, literally, on lives and on our economy, on our environment. That's the big issue. And we have, of course, a number of speakers, when they spoke in the plenary session indicated their support. And there's universal support for what is not Australia's bid, what is Australia and the Pacific's bid.
JOURNALIST: Staying on COP31 and Australia's ambitions to host. Is there pressure coming from other leaders to devise a plan to wind down fossil fuel projects? Are you getting pressure there?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
JOURNALIST: The Leader of Palau, just because you mentioned COP, today said his country is already at war with China. What's your response to those remarks?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not going to respond to that.
JOURNALIST: It's been a week since we heard of the million dollar deal with Nauru to reset our hundreds of non-citizens. For us in the Pacific, family means respect, equality and openness. Why is Australia continuously using its Pacific family as a dumping ground or prison island?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at all. That's - with respect, that's disrespectful of Nauru. This is an agreement between the sovereign government of Australia and the sovereign government of Nauru. That is in both of our countries' interests.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you've announced at the United Nations General Assembly you'll be announcing Australia's support for the Palestinian statehood. Today the Pacific Conference of Churches has issued a statement calling on all forum members to do the same thing. Do you welcome that statement? And is that an issue you've discussed this week with any of your counterparts?
PRIME MINISTER: Governments are sovereign and they'll make their own decisions here. I won't advise other governments on what their international policy should be on matters that don't directly affect Australia. My job is to represent Australia's interests and that's what I do.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what do you say to Australians at home struggling to pay their power bills, are going up each quarter, who'll hear tonight that we're sending $100 million of taxpayer funds to climate projects in the Pacific? Why is it value for money for Australians?
PRIME MINISTER: Because climate change is a global circumstance. It is global emissions. And the people who argue, some people who argue we shouldn't do anything on climate change because Australia doesn't represent 100 per cent of global emissions and therefore we shouldn't do anything. There's a contradiction there. We need to be, not just taking action ourselves. We need to encourage positive actions for others as well. And in the Pacific we need to provide support for our Pacific family members.
JOURNALIST: Mr Albanese, the leaders here are calling for a fossil fuel free Pacific and that includes no more coal mines. What do you say to those leaders that are asking for Australia to take that action?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Australia determines our own policy. Australia determines our policy and what we're doing is transitioning in a way that ensures that there's energy security, that ensures that there's community support for action, and my Government's committed to action on climate change.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just briefly on the discussions that you're now having with Fiji on a security treaty, I realise it's early stages, but would Australia contemplate extending a security guarantee to Fiji comparable to the one that has been done in other agreements, including with Tuvalu under the Falepili Union?
PRIME MINISTER: These are -
JOURNALIST: Sorry. Just one more. Thank you, I appreciate it. On the Nakamal Agreement you sounded, if you agree, let me know if you disagree with this characterisation, you seem to be a little bit more bullish after the event, and the event with King Stingray yesterday after a private chat with Prime Minister Napat, do you feel like you've reached a personal understanding with him that will ensure that this agreement can be progressed within the coming months?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not sure if people were there for his speech at that event. He was himself very positive. And I didn't just meet with the Prime Minister and the deputy Prime Minister. I met with the Council of Ministers. They were all very positive. Vanuatu has a different system of government. The government there, there are five parties that are parties of government. What that does is mean that the decisions that I make on behalf of the Labor Government in conjunction with my Cabinet and my colleagues, that's one process. They have five they have to go through. And so - but the Prime Minister was very positive. Prime Minister Napat, he of course travelled with me here this morning as well. All of the Ministers that I spoke with were all very positive about the agreement. And on Fiji, look, we'll wait and see. I don't want to pre-empt those good faith discussions. As I said, this arose out of the suggestion by Prime Minister Rabuka. I have a very good and warm relationship with him. These relationships matter. You know, going to the footy, sitting next to the Prime Minister when Australia, I think the Wallabies were quite lucky to, to get out of that game, to be frank, with the flying Fijians with literally we were probably a centimetre away from defeat if they hadn't gone back about three plays to see a foot slightly out. As the Prime Minister said to me, if the Fijians had smaller shoes they would have been right and would have won the game. That's a relationship that matters. And here in the Pacific it matters. It matters that Australia turns up. It matters that we participate. It matters that we engage in good faith. It matters that we provide support when we can as well.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister just quickly on another international issue. Was Israel wrong to strike Hamas in Qatar?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look, the United States has made its position clear, and I think they have raised the issue that this is violates Qatar's sovereignty and it risks the ceasefire. I want to see peace in that region. I don't want to see an escalation. Last one.
JOURNALIST: In terms of the Pacific Islands Forum. Winston Peters, Foreign Minister of New Zealand, has suggested that there could be a split. He says that outsiders are meddling in Pacific politics, and he wants them out. What are your observations being here today talking to Pacific leaders? Do you feel all the same?
PRIME MINISTER:: That the Pacific family values the fact that we are family and that we need to look after each other's interests and we need to engage constructively. That's certainly what I do. Thanks.
