Australia’s Pacific Island snub risks blindsiding Anthony Albanese

Labor is leaving itself open to being ‘surprised’ by China’s growing influence in Solomon Islands by declining to meet with its former premier and anti-Beijing politician Daniel Suidani.

Daniel Suidani, former premier of Malaita province, Solomon Islands.

Labor is leaving itself open to being “surprised” by China’s growing influence in Solomon Islands by declining to meet with its former premier, Daniel Suidani, an anti-Beijing politician wishing to warn the Australian government over China’s grip on the region.

Despite efforts by Mr Suidani to meet with Australia’s high commissioner in Honiara in recent weeks, the former premier revealed in The Australian that his appointments with officials have been cancelled and never rescheduled. Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has declined to comment on the matter.

Solomon Islands struck a controversial security agreement in 2022 that allows Chinese forces into the Pacific nation in exchange for significant investment from Beijing.

The refusal by Australian officials to meet with Solomon politicians seeking to discuss Beijing’s presence baffled foreign affairs experts, who demanded the government publicly explain why Mr Suidani was being snubbed.

“A key role of an Australian diplomatic mission is to retain lots of contacts across the political spectrum in any country where they’re based, therefore it strikes me as in fact very unusual an opposition figure would not be granted an opportunity to meet,” former Australian Defence Department deputy secretary Peter Jennings said.

“Our missions are there to look after Australia’s interests, not the interests of China, not the interests of the ruling government in Honiara.”

Strategic Analysis Australia founder Michael Shoebridge also questioned whether the refusal to meet Mr Suidani was due to Australia efforts to placate Beijing.

“All this does is tell the current Solomon Islands government that Australia is so anxious about its relationship with China that we won’t do simple, normal things that might upset them,” he said.

“Cutting off channels of information like Mr Suidani means we will just be surprised when, at some future point, we notice how deep the Beijing-Solomons relationship has got and wish we had listened to other voices.”

Australia has sought to remain the “partner of choice” for Pacific Island nations, who are constantly being wooed by the offer of investment from China in exchange for allowing Beijing to have a presence in the region.

Mr Shoebridge said the refusal by Australian officials to meet with a critic of Solomon Islands spoke to the shaky ground between Canberra and Honiara.

“If having discussions with a critic … will undo the whole relationship with the Solomons, then that relationship is in trouble,” he said.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham also made a veiled swipe at the government and Australian officials, who “should always hear a broad range of perspectives”.

“In circumstances as sensitive as the Solomon Islands it is important for government to receive the best possible intelligence and analysis,” Senator Birmingham said.