Anthony Albanese caught in hot mic incident at Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga

A NZ journalist posted the PM’s exchange with the US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell in which he jokingly suggested the US ‘go us halvies’ on the cost of a regional policing deal | WATCH

Anthony Albanese has found himself at the centre of a hot mic incident at the Pacific Island Forum in Tonga that revealed him asking a top US diplomat to “go us halvies” on the cost of a new $400m regional policing deal.

The Prime Minister questioned a New Zealand journalist’s ethics after she posted his exchange with US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell on social media.

Mr Albanese was in high spirits at the forum after sealing the policing deal, telling Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific guru: “We had a cracker today getting the Pacific Policing Initiative through.”

New Zealand journalist Lydia Lewis posted the PM’s exchange with US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. Picture: AAP.

Mr Campbell said the agreement was “fantastic”, revealing Australia’s Ambassador in Washington Kevin Rudd asked him to hold off on a major announcement at the forum to give the deal clear air.

“I talked to Kevin about it,” Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific tsar said in the conversation posted on X by Radio New Zealand’s Lydia Lewis.

“We were going to do something but he asked us not to, so we did not. We have given you the lane. Take the lane.”

Mr Albanese said the deal was “so important”, before suggesting the US could share the financial burden of the scheme.

“You can go us halvies on the cost if you like. It’ll only cost you a bit.”

“Well we had a cracker today getting the Pacific Policing Initiative through,” @AlboMP tells @kurtcampbel on sidelines of @piflm53@[e-mail]/sP9YNqhlSR

— Lydia Lewis (@LydiaLewisRNZ) August 28, 2024

Asked about the incident on Thursday, Mr Albanese accused Lewis of “coming up behind” to record the exchange without identifying herself.

“It is up to them, whoever did that, to think about their own ethics when it comes to journalism,” he said.

“It was private conversation, it was a jovial conversation and a friendly one.”

The conversation occurred on the floor of the forum’s main conference area in the Tongan capital of Nuku’alofa that was open to the media.

But Mr Albanese told the travelling Australian media pack: “I myself, were I a journalist, would not do that, and I know most of your wouldn’t either.”

He said Dr Campbell was “a mate of mine”, while disputing that the US had held off on an announcement to avoid overshadowing Australia’s policing deal.

“He didn’t say that,” Mr Albanese said, despite Dr Campbell’s clear comments to the contrary.

“This has been led by police ministers who have been meeting about this for a year. Chill out people.”

Australia’s Minister for the Pacific Pat Conroy can be heard near the end of the video admonishing the journalist, who has 910 followers on the social media platform.

Lewis posted a story about the exchange, saying she had been “filming cutaways” – generic footage for editing purposes.’

“While filming, the pair started discussing policing,” she wrote.

She quoted Pacific security expert Dr Anna Powes in the story, who said Australia and the US were working closely together to secure the nations’ shared interests in the region.

“This really harks back to those old, old claims that Australia was the deputy sheriff to the United States and the Pacific,” Dr Powles said.

Radio New Zealand chief news officer Mark Stevens backed the network’s specialist Pacific journalist in a statement on Thursday.

“RNZ stands by its reporter and its reporting. Having spoken to our reporter, there is nothing to suggest they acted unethically or outside of our rigorous editorial policies,” he said.

Australian taxpayers will foot the bill for the “Pacific-led” policing initiative, paying $400m over the next five years to stand up a multi-country Pacific Police Support Group and establish new police training centres across the region.