Coalition defends Morrison’s decision not to call Solomon Islands leader

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is resisting calling his Solomon Islands counterpart despite a top-level delegation from the United States arriving in the country to warn it against allowing China to establish a military base.

The White House said on Saturday it would expedite the opening of an embassy in the Solomon Islands and warned the Pacific nation that it would “respond accordingly” if steps are taken allowing China to set up a permanent military presence.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne have faced questions over their handling of the Solomon Islands-China deal.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Days after the Solomon Islands sent shock waves across the Pacific by signing a security cooperation pact with Beijing, the American delegation – led by National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator, Kurt Campbell, and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Daniel Kritenbrink – met with members of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s government for 90 minutes to discuss their concerns.

Morrison has also only spoken to Sogavare once during the past month, and did not call him in the days leading up to the signing of the agreement.

Australia has also repeatedly resisted sending Foreign Minister Marise Payne, based on advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs to take a subtle approach to handling the agreement and to further avoid antagonising Sogavare. Her junior minister Zed Seselja travelled to the Pacific nation earlier in April.

The revelation has dominated the second week of Australia’s election campaign as Morrison and Payne faced questions over how much they knew about the secret deal before a draft was leaked and what they did to try to stop it from being signed.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported on Saturday an Australian intelligence agency was involved in the last-ditch leak of the draft security pact after senior officials concluded the deal was likely to be signed despite diplomatic efforts.

Asked why it was not appropriate for Morrison to pick up the phone to Sogavare when US officials had travelled to the country, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said every country was “right to engage in an appropriate and well-calibrated response to these issues” in their approaches.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison with his Solomon Islands counterpart Manasseh Sogavare in 2019.Credit: Nine

“Scott Morrison has had many conversations with Prime Minister Sogavare and we, as a country, continue to engage appropriately with the Solomon Islands,” he said.

“And it’s through those areas of engagement that we’ve secured important commitments from the Solomon Islands to not have any foreign military bases established in Solomon Islands.”

As to why Australia hadn’t sent the foreign minister to the country, Birmingham said, “We’ll continue to follow proper advice and engage with all of our Pacific partners at the appropriate level.”

Labor’s deputy leader Richard Marles said the government had failed to convince Solomon Islands not to sign the deal.

“Under their watch, they have let the Pacific go,” he said.

“Under their watch, they have made it so that Australia is not the partner of choice for Solomon Islands. And by virtue of that, our security is much worse than it would otherwise have been.

“This is a watershed moment in terms of Australia’s national security, in terms of our place in the region and it is a watershed moment that is very negative. It definitely raises the increased prospect of Chinese military presence in the Pacific and that makes Australia less safe and that is because Scott Morrison wasn’t doing his job.”

Under the agreement, Chinese armed forces will be allowed to protect infrastructure less than 2000 kilometres off the Australian east coast which could cut off vital supply lines to the US and Asia in the event of a conflict.

American officials over the weekend told Sogavare and members of his cabinet that while the US “respected the rights of nations to make sovereign decisions in the best interest of their people”, the pact with Beijing had security risks for the region, as well as the US, Australia and its allied partners.

“The US delegation outlined clear areas of concern with respect to the purpose, scope, and transparency of the agreement,” the White House said.

“If steps are taken to establish a de facto permanent military presence, power-projection capabilities, or a military installation, the delegation noted that the US would then have significant concerns and respond accordingly.

“In response to these enumerated concerns, Prime Minister Sogavare reiterated his specific assurances that there would be no military base, no long-term presence, and no power projection capability, as he has said publicly.”

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