Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Wong. Last week, the Prime Minister attended the Pacific Islands Forum leaders retreat and announced a new partnership with Tuvalu. Can the minister explain how this new partnership with Tuvalu is in our national interests?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Stewart for her question. It is the case that last week the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Natano of Tuvalu announced a major new bilateral agreement, the Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union, in response to a request from Tuvalu. The union comprises a bilateral treaty between Tuvalu and Australia, as well as a commitment to elevate our broader partnership. What I would say to the chamber is this represents the most important step any Australian government has taken with a Pacific country since the independence of Papua New Guinea in 1975. Tuvalu's remote location, its scarce natural resources and its small population, spread across low-lying islands, mean it faces major challenges for development and major climate risks. Our governments have been working for months to secure this treaty, which elevates our partnership to one that is our most advanced, our most integrated and our most comprehensive.

'Falepili' is a Tuvaluan word for the traditional values of good neighbourliness, care and mutual respect, and the treaty covers three main areas of cooperation: climate change, security and human mobility with dignity. Under the treaty, Australia commits to providing assistance to Tuvalu in response to a major natural disaster, to health pandemics and to military aggression, at its request. For this security guarantee to function, Australia and Tuvalu must mutually agree on any of Tuvalu's security arrangements, and Australia will establish a dedicated permanent intake, a special mobility pathway, to allow a capped number of Tuvaluans to come to Australia to live, work and study. This will enable what Prime Minister Natano described to me as migration with dignity, human mobility with dignity. In this way, their government is safeguarding the future of their people, their islands and their culture.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Stewart, first supplementary?

Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you for that update. Can the minister please explain how the Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union will contribute to a peaceful, stable and prosperous Pacific region?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This falepili union gives effect to the concept of Pacific led security. Both of our countries are strengthening our commitment to each other in response to the challenges of our time, including climate change and strategic competition. Australia believes in Pacific sovereignty, where the region is guided by the Pacific Islands Forum and the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, a region where we come together in the Pacific way and where we are stronger together, where the Pacific family decides its own security and is equipped to respond to its own needs. We know being part of the Pacific family means we have a duty to respond to Pacific needs and to deliver for our shared interests. We are seeking to do so, and this falepili union represents a major step towards deeper regional integration so that the countries of the Pacific can safeguard their sovereignty and determine their own destiny.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Stewart, second supplementary?

Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister explain how Australia is supporting Tuvalu with the threat of climate change under the Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I referenced in my earlier answer, it is a decision of the Pacific Islands Forum by leaders that articulates the importance of Pacific family being responsible for its own security. We also believe that that is in Australia's interests. It's in the interests of the Pacific and in the interests of Australia. It's not possible to talk about security in the Pacific without talking about what the forum itself has determined to be Pacific island nations' biggest security challenge, and that of course is climate change. As part of our falepili union, we will provide an additional $16.9 million in funding towards large-scale land reclamation that will expand Funafuti's land by six per cent, enabling people to live in Tuvalu in the face of sea level rise. I noticed over the weekend that Mr Hastie has indicated that the opposition is supportive of this arrangement. Given their opposition to so much else, I'm pleased that they have— (Time expired)