Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises the importance of working with our Pacific neighbours to deliver a region that is secure and sovereign; and

(2) notes the:

(a) Government's Pacific Maritime Security Program is providing the region with a modern and coordinated security capability; and

(b) Government is delivering important infrastructure projects that will enhance their security capability—this includes:

(i) Fiji's Blackrock Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Camp;

(ii) gifting of Guardian Class Patrol Boats; and

(iii) the joint initiative with Papua New Guinea and the Lombrum Naval Base.

David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Do I have a seconder for the motion?

Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic, our engagement in the Pacific remains one of Australia's highest foreign policy priorities. There has never been a more important time for us to stand shoulder to shoulder with our near neighbours and reaffirm our commitment to deliver a region that is both secure and sovereign. It makes sense. The Pacific is where we live. It is our home. The basis of strong relationships is being there for each other when we need it most, and it's at the heart of the Morrison government's Pacific Step-up. This program continues to grow economies, build resilience and enhance regional stability through defence, policing and border security cooperation. The program also continues decades of strengthening the region's capacity through the Defence Cooperation Program. As a region, we are united in our joint fight against the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic. For our part, Australia remains committed to working with our Pacific partners and maintaining our engagement within the restrictions of COVID-19. I'm pleased to advise that Defence has responded and is reprioritising funding through the Defence Cooperation Program to support the COVID-19 response wherever possible. Defence is also engaging closely with our security partners in the south-west Pacific to share our collective understanding of the impact of COVID-19 right across the region.

As we continue to work cooperatively with our partner neighbours, the bonds that exist are further strengthened. Not only is this true for our defence forces but, more importantly, it consolidates our steadfast ties with families, communities and nations right across the region. The reciprocal nature of the support was evident earlier this year, when our Pacific friends lent their support to our ADF response to the bushfire crisis. Australia faced an unprecedented national disaster when bushfires swept across large parts of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and, indeed, my home state of Tasmania. Images of the Fiji and PNG defence forces were welcomed into Australia and were uplifting, reminding us all of the deep connections that we share as nations.

It was also an important reminder that this relationship is two-way—one where we gratefully and welcomely accept support when needed, just as we lend a hand in their hour of need. In April this year, in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Harold, the Australian Defence Force conducted four flights into Vanuatu delivering critical emergency relief. In supporting the government's COVID-19 response, to date, the humanitarian corridor has transported over 21 tonnes of supplies into the region, including testing equipment, PPE and medical supplies for local hospitals. Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister Marape and his government swiftly responded to help stop the outbreak. In response to the PNG government's request, Australia lent our support with the deployment of the Australian Medical Assistance Team, and this was welcomed by PNG on the ground.

'Vuvale' is the Fijian word for 'family' or 'my home is your home'. The Vuvale Partnership between Fiji and Australia aspires to elevate cooperation, consolidation and friendship between our two nations. However, the sentiment of 'vuvale' is not exclusive to our partnership with Fiji; it is our commitment to all our Pacific partners as we help protect their communities from COVID-19 and ensure that the region is secure, stable and sovereign.

Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I begin by acknowledging this motion and saying that Labor does indeed support this motion and we thank the member for bringing it here. The impact of COVID on the Pacific highlights more than ever the importance of Australia working with its Pacific neighbours to deliver a region that is secure and sovereign. This pandemic has also highlighted the multidimensional nature of security challenges in this region. There are not just traditional challenges but also challenges to human security and to the health and welfare of Pacific islanders. There is also the profound security challenge of climate change, which poses an existential threat to low-lying Pacific island nations.

Pacific countries are being hit hard by COVID-19. Most countries in the region are able to avoid large outbreaks by taking steps to control the spread of the virus. However, several countries are experiencing second waves. The number of confirmed cases in Papua New Guinea has risen to more than 350. There have also been significant outbreaks in French Polynesia and the US territory of Guam in the northern Pacific. COVID-19 is also having a devastating impact on the economies of the Pacific countries, which rely heavily on tourism and on earnings from Pacific islanders working abroad, including in Australia.

Australia needs to show that the Pacific step-up is real. We need to provide assistance, not only with immediate health impacts but also with medium-term economic recovery and development. This is a time to boost Australia's development assistance along with our diplomatic and Defence engagement with Pacific countries. Unfortunately, this government has cut more than $11.8 billion from Australia's official development assistance since it came to office in 2013. The government's assistance for Pacific countries with COVID-19 has not been supported by any new funds. These measures are paid for by cuts to other areas of the federal budget. If you are concerned about security in the Pacific, you cannot ignore the development, economic and human dimensions of security. This has been recognised in the Pacific Islands Forum's Boe Declaration on Regional Security. The Boe declaration refers to an expanded concept of security, inclusive of human security, humanitarian assistance, prioritising environmental security and regional cooperation in building resilience to disasters and climate change. One important way for the Australian government to support this expanded concept of regional security in the Pacific would be to increase official development assistance in the coming budget.

The motion focuses on defence and security cooperation between Australia and its Pacific partners. Labor supports the Pacific Maritime Security Program. We support measures like the Pacific patrol boats and the cooperation with Fiji at the Blackrock Camp and with PNG at Lombrum. The Pacific patrol boats program would deliver 21 new Guardian class patrol boats to Pacific Island nations in Timor-Leste. This is an important initiative, so it is disappointing that the incompetence we have seen from the government in major projects has been on display in the Pacific patrol boat program. The Auditor-General's Major projects report revealed that the Morrison government delivered a new patrol boat to PNG before finishing construction of the new wharf facilities needed to ensure that the boat could dock safely. Let me repeat that: they delivered the boat before they had the wharf built to dock the boat. The Major projects report also revealed that the government failed to provide enough funding in the Pacific patrol boats program for upgrading wharf infrastructure in receiving countries. Defence had to scramble to pay for wharf upgrades by raiding funds from the wider Defence Cooperation Program.

Then there is the government's promise of a new Australian Navy vessel for providing humanitarian and disaster relief support to the Pacific. This is an important initiative and will be critical in coming years as Pacific countries feel the brunt of climate change. Prime Minister Morrison announced the new vessel in November 2018. Nearly two years later, no action has been taken to acquire the vessel. Yet again, we have a grand announcement from the government but zero delivery. This vessel is pencilled in Australia's latest Defence Force Structure Plan for delivery by 2024, but no further details have been provided by the government on when and how this vessel will be acquired. So, when it comes to security in the Pacific, this government says the right things but, all too often, does not live up to its rhetoric when it comes to delivering on the promises.

Let me repeat where I began. If the coalition government is serious about supporting security in the Pacific, they would take action on climate change and they would restore the cuts to official development assistance. If they don't advocate those opposite for increasing the aid budget and actually taking action on climate change, they are betraying themselves as hollow hypocrites and are betraying the Pacific and they showing the Pacific step-up is rhetoric only.

Vince Connelly (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was very pleased to hear about this motion and have the opportunity today to make comments on reflection. I note first of all that the motion talks about recognising the importance of working with our Pacific neighbours to deliver a region that is secure and that is sovereign. I would like to add a little to that and say that I believe that the principles of friendship and of collaboration are also inherently fundamental and important in delivering these outcomes. Indeed, through the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, and the Defence subcommittee, we are inquiring at the moment into the Pacific step-up program the Australian government has. We are listening to the region about what is working well and what else the region would like to see. Some of the feedback we're getting is that the idea of working collaboratively together as partners in the region is foremost in our regional neighbours' minds.

I will start with a personal reflection. While I was still a young Army officer, I was in command of an infantry company at the Townsville based 2nd Battalion. I was part of the online company of the online unit of the Australian Defence Force. It was incredibly exciting when we got what's called a warning order, which basically says, 'You're going somewhere; start packing your bags.' This was a warning order to deploy to Solomon Islands as part of Operation ANODE, which sought to restore law and order to, effectively, cordon and search and catch criminals, round up weapons and restore peace and stability to this absolutely beautiful region.

It was exciting, then, to deploy as the very first company on the ground. We flew into the famed island of Guadalcanal and the capital, Honiara, a place which saw immense and fierce fighting in the Second World War but one that has a deep history and natural beauty. We were joined, there, by partners from the region. We served alongside platoons from Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand and quite a few of our other Pacific neighbour nations.

Moving towards the Pacific Maritime Security Program, this program has three essential elements. It includes 21 Guardian Class Patrol Boats, air surveillance and improved regional cooperation. What this program will deliver is infrastructure, but it will also deliver sustainment and training. For these 21 Guardian Class Patrol Boats, it will include crews being trained. They will be brought to Australia and trained and deployed with those vessels back to their home countries. There will remain in country the ability to sustain them and access resources to help continue their effective use.

I was really pleased to visit the Austal shipyard in Henderson, in my home state of Western Australia. Here I was able to see two of these Guardian Class Patrol Boats, there on the dock, all shiny and ready to roll out the door—I should say, sail out the door. Really exciting. I should admit there is a bit of a slowdown because of COVID, so the crews who were coming from Pacific islands to accept those boats, to be trained and then sail home, haven't yet been able to arrive. But, rest assured, that is high on the radar, and I'm sure those vessels will be very welcome back in their home countries.

I also note the significance of the humanitarian and disaster relief program, which will be housed at the Blackrock Camp in Fiji. This will be a wonderful regional capability. We know and have seen the importance of being able to rapidly deploy medical equipment, supplies, emergency food relief and, of course, essentials like water and medicines when natural disasters hit within our region.

It goes almost without saying and across all sides of politics, in this place, that the Pacific Step-up, our engagement with our neighbours, remains one of the very highest priorities of our Australian foreign policy. Whilst we have seen some impacts around COVID, we've seen that collaboration and working together. We've deployed some 21 tonnes of PPE and other emergency relief equipment into our region and, indeed, as we heard earlier, our region has supported us, including through the bushfires, where we had Fijians and Papua New Guineans fighting fires alongside Australians. This is the sort of region we want to become, and it is how we will achieve that strength, that stability and that security.

Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to speak on this motion today, and it's very pleasing to have discussion facilitated on the Pacific. In my opinion, we don't do it enough as a parliament. So this is a great opportunity. I'm going to confine my remarks to Fiji. As members might know, I'm of Fijian heritage and maintain an abiding interest in Fiji and the Fijian people. I would also note that we're not too far off—on 10 October—Fiji celebrating its 50th anniversary of independence, which will be a very important milestone in their history. I want to acknowledge the member for Werriwa, who is here, who has a very large Australian-Indian population that she represents so ably.

Today's motion is an acknowledgement of the strategic importance of Australia's relationships, including with Fiji. While the issues raised are certainly worthy of discussion, I also think it warrants reflection on a number of gaps in the Australia-Fiji relationship. There will be huge challenges for Fiji in the years ahead, our most populated Pacific neighbour other than New Zealand. They have been particularly hard hit economically by the travel restrictions. Fiji is one of Australia's closest friends in the Pacific. We share a common bond and a willingness to promote our shared values of freedom and respect throughout the region. Fijians themselves are active global citizens. They're not restricted by their island status or small population. Interesting to note, since 1970, since independence, Fiji has provided more personnel per capita to UN peace keeping missions than any other foreign nation. They wear that as a badge of honour and rightly so. As Fijian Prime Minister Bainimarama said: 'Fijians believe the right of peace should be enjoyed by all humanity'.

As an island nation dealing firsthand with the effects of human-induced climate change, Fiji has been at the forefront of international efforts to reduce global emissions. Across many fronts, Fiji is a Pacific and an international leader. It is unfortunately the case that, unlike our Fijian friends, Australia has a track record in some cases of neglecting our responsibilities. I am deeply concerned that some of our government policies have either undermined the importance of key strategic relationships in the region or failed to promote them. This disrespect goes all the way to the top, with Prime Minister Bainimarama describing the government's posture on climate change previously as very insulting, very condescending.

What I really want to highlight is of real import for Australia's strategic interests in the Pacific is soft power. The stability and security of the Pacific region cannot be taken for granted—it must not be neglected—and it won't be achieved with empty words about stepping up or being family, nor will it be realised if Australia fails to leverage the tools it has at its disposal to engage with our Pacific nations. Yet this government has cut funding to the ABC, cuts that diminish the strength of Australia's international broadcaster and, in turn, undermine the safety and security of Australians in the region. Since this government took office in 2013, the ABC's capacity has been substantially reduced. The Australia network has been shut down and the ABC shortwave radio transmissions across the Pacific have been switched off, a direct result of funding cuts.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Republic of China has been doing the exact opposite, working to boost China's international media voice by making significant investments to expand the coverage, presence and reach of Chinese media, including taking over the shortwave radio frequencies previously occupied by the ABC. Nature abhors a vacuum. In the face of rising concerns about disinformation and misinformation, this government is cutting funding to Australia's most trusted source of news and information. The ABC's April 2020 submission on strengthening Australia's relationship with countries in the Pacific sets out a host of ways in which with greater resourcing, the ABC's public diplomacy role could be strengthened. With a budget of only $11 million per annum, funding for ABC international broadcasting is being dwarfed by other nations. This government should bolster it and Australia's influence and the capacity of Pacific voices in the region. To put it into perspective, this government has granted $40 million over six years to Fox Sports for women's and niche sports. While I welcome this motion here today, surely our Pacific footprint warrants much more than it is getting from this government?

Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to rise in support of the motion of the member for Braddon. Like him, I am pleased that Australia's engagement in the Pacific remains one of the Morrison government's highest foreign policy priorities. During this difficult time, there has never been a more vital opportunity for Australia to stand with our Pacific family. The government continues to deliver on important infrastructure projects to enhance security capabilities in the region. Defence's enhanced engagement initiatives are responding to Pacific priorities, identified through our ongoing discussions with our Pacific neighbours. Every time we work together with our Pacific neighbours, we further strengthen the bonds that exist between not only our defence forces but between our families and our communities and between nations. To that end, I want to take the opportunity that the member for Braddon has afforded us with this motion to talk briefly about some of the important aspects of our cooperation in the Pacific.

Firstly, COVID and the impact it is having on them. Just as we struggle with our own economic and health crises, we stand shoulder to shoulder with our Pacific neighbours who are in the same fight. We have been working with our Pacific partners to help them prepare for and manage the COVID-19 pandemic. In the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Harold, our Australian Defence Force conducted four flights into Vanuatu, supporting the government's COVID-19 response and delivering critical emergency relief. As other speakers on this side of the Chamber have noted, to date the humanitarian efforts have transported over 21 tonnes of supplies to the region, including testing equipment, PPE gear and medical supplies for hospitals. Following an outbreak of COVID-19 in PNG and in response to the direct request of the PNG government, Australia have lent our support with the deployment of Australian medical assistance teams. We will continue to work with our Pacific partners to help protect their communities from COVID-19 and ensure our region is secure, stable and sovereign.

Defence is also reprioritising, as a response to COVID, the Defence Cooperation Program to ensure that it reflects post-COVID priorities. Australia remains committed to working with our Pacific partners and maintaining our engagement, wherever possible, despite the restrictions that have been put in place for us all as part of COVID-19. I hope also, as we get closer to a vaccine and we task Australian manufacturing capability with the goal of producing sufficient vaccines for all Australians, that we can assist our Pacific neighbours with the manufacture of adequate supplies for their populations as well.

I want to acknowledge the cooperation between our governments to significantly reduce the threat of people smuggling in our region and to also build the capacity of local police forces, particularly in PNG. Australia is committed to supporting PNG's priorities in building its capacity in policing, and is committing $135.9 million over 3½ years to the policing program. The funding is a collaboration with ADF officers and will enhance and modernise local policing operations through improved community level service delivery, prosecution services and enhanced training capabilities.

The AFP is working hard to deliver on Australia's commitment to work with our regional partners to strengthen the ability of Pacific governments to enforce their laws and protect their sovereignty. The Australian Federal Police deserve our thanks for the recent efforts in shutting down a major cocaine-trafficking exercise near Port Moresby that was intended to deliver a drug haul valued at around $80 million to Australia's shores. The AFP had excellent cooperation with the PNG police drug squad, which demonstrated the cooperation and capability we've built up together. This cooperation was evident when, soon after the light aircraft carrying the drugs crashed on a makeshift airstrip near Port Moresby, alleged members of the syndicate were arrested in Melbourne, Sydney and North Queensland by AFP officers. Australia and our incredibly talented AFP officers have a vital role to play in ensuring the Pacific nations are vigilant and have the capacity to clamp down on drug and other smuggling operations that are either taking root in those nations or using them as a stepping stone to Australia, and I encourage the Morrison government to continue to support this ongoing policing collaboration in the Pacific.

There are also our humanitarian connections, forged through our deep friendships and longstanding connections to each other. We want the communities of our Pacific neighbours to be strong, and Australians expect that we support those bonds wherever we can. A great example is a local charity in the Ryan electorate, Library For All. Library For All is providing a diverse and inclusive digital and print library aimed at meeting the various needs of primary-school-aged children in the Pacific. Working with local Pacific and Australian authors, they publish over 700 titles for local children in Pacific nations. I thank them very much for their efforts.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Working with our Pacific family is incredibly important, and to strengthen their security, prosperity and safety from the effects of climate change is an overriding Australian national interest. There's no separating Australia's security from the Pacific's security, and the recent commemorations of 75 years since the end of the war in the Pacific should tell us that. We are a Pacific nation and an active member of the Pacific Islands Forum. Our fates are intertwined by ties of kith and kin, as my friend mentioned a little while ago. Culture, sports, religion, and economic and strategic reality bind us to our family in the Pacific. In Cairns last year our Indo-Pacific trade task force had great meetings about encouraging and fostering those bonds better into the future. Strengthening Australia's vital relationships with Pacific island nations has traditionally been, and should be, a bipartisan priority. The Pacific Maritime Security Program mentioned in this motion, for instance, is the successor to the original Pacific Patrol Boats program, which saw Australia give vessels to Pacific island countries, beginning under Labor from 1987 to 1997.

Ignoring the Pacific has been an own goal by the coalition government, with costly strategic consequences. The Pacific Step-up was designed to fill a vacuum created by this government's own Pacific step down. The chronic gutting of Australian aid and climate change inaction have decreased the influence and credibility Australia long enjoyed among Pacific nations. The one thing that the Pacific really cares about—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 17:46 to 17:58

I was mentioning that our credibility among Pacific nations has been good, but it did suffer from what has been called the government's own Pacific 'step-down' in the past. I continue to encourage them to step up. One area is climate change action. If there's one thing the Pacific really cares about, it's the existential threat that they see climate change and sea level rise as. It's funny, isn't it? When people who live on islands see those islands being subsumed by the ocean, it's going to be an important thing to them.

On top of the Guardian class patrol boats and the Lombrum base initiatives that have been mentioned in this motion, I'd like to mention the plan for the Navy to acquire a new Pacific support vessel that would provide assistance with humanitarian and disaster recovery efforts, including responses to cyclones. This Defence acquisition was first announced by the Prime Minister in November 2018, but there hasn't been a lot of progress in delivering it. The new Defence Force structure plan in July this year indicates that it is expected to be acquired by 2024. I urge the government to follow through and provide more information on when the capability will be delivered. I note that Queensland and the east coast in general play a significant role in the maintenance of our Pacific friends' patrol boats. Darwin too is a natural partner for the servicing and maintenance of Timor-Leste's two new patrol boats under the program. This is in line with Darwin's increasing role as a Navy hub in Australia's evolving strategic posture.

The Pacific is currently hit hard by COVID-19, with PNG and other countries experiencing a second wave and with the devastating impact on their economies due to travel restrictions hitting tourism and remittance from workers abroad. Australia needs to show that the Pacific Step-up is real by providing assistance, not only with the immediate health impacts but also with medium-term economic recovery. That means it's time to boost Australia's development assistance, along with diplomacy and defence cooperation, and not make further cuts to the aid budget. Aid NGOs are concerned that the government may make even more cuts in the coming budget.

Recently, the Prime Minister announced that the government's COVID vaccine initiative would also be extended to people in Pacific island countries. I welcome this, but call on the government to make sure it follows through by ensuring the vaccine is made available for free in Pacific countries. It's good for the people and it's good for our relationships. This is not a defence matter— (Time expired)

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.