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A ramp-up in defence and security collaboration between Australia and its Pacific partners has been promised under a new plan proposed by the Labor opposition.
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Shadow minister for foreign affairs Penny Wong has announced the Labor Party’s new proposal to bolster Australia’s influence in the Pacific amid concern over China’s growing presence in the region, particularly off the back of its security agreement with the Solomon Islands.
If elected to government, Labor has pledged to establish a new Australia-Pacific Defence School, set up to provide training for members of defence and security forces from Pacific Island nations.
The school, which would be funded by a $6.5 million investment over the next four years, aims to ramp-up Australia’s defence engagement in the region through the development of deeper institutional links between the Australian Defence Force and Pacific counterparts.
The Labor opposition has also committed to doubling funding for the Pacific Maritime Security Program (PMSP), which involves providing aerial surveillance to counter illegal maritime activity, which reportedly cost Pacific Islands partners approximately US$150 million a year.
Increased support would be funded by a $12 million annual investment from 2024-25.
Other proposals include:
- Investing $525 million over the next four years to enhance Australian Official Development Assistance for Pacific countries and Timor-Leste;
- Increasing funding to ABC International by $8 million per year over the forward estimates to deliver an Indo-Pacific Broadcasting Strategy, designed to facilitate access to Australian public and commercial media content, increase training for Pacific journalists and enhance partnerships with broadcasters.
- Establishing a Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership to support climate and clean energy infrastructure projects in Pacific countries.
- Conducting regular bipartisan parliamentary Pacific visits.
- Reforming the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme’s Seasonal Worker Program (SWP) and expanding the PALM Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS).
- Meeting upfront travel costs for Pacific workers under the Seasonal Worker Program.
- Encouraging more Pacific permanent migration to Australia through a new Pacific Engagement Visa, modelled on New Zealand’s Pacific Access Resident visa.
In a joint statement, the Labor opposition said the plan would ensure Australia is the “partner of choice” for countries in the Pacific.
“Labor will secure our region and build a stronger Pacific family, to help face our shared challenges and achieve our shared goals.”
However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has dismissed the “farcical” proposal, claiming it would have little impact on the geopolitical balance in the region.
“What they’re putting out today, the Labor Party, is basically a continuation of all the things that we’re currently doing, with one exception,” he said.
“They think the way to solve the problem in the Solomon Islands is to send in the ABC.
“…I mean their answer to solving the Solomon Islands problem is to have Q&A in Honiara. I don’t think that’s a true reflection or an understanding of the challenges that we face there.”
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