Election 2022: Scott Morrison turns back on Solomons scuffle

A former high commissioner to the Solomon Islands says he was ‘manhandled’ and kicked out of a cheese factory after trying to raise concerns with Scott Morrison.

Former Solomons high commissioner Trevor Sofield, front left, is physically stopped from talking to Scott Morrison. Picture: Jason Edwards

A former high commissioner to the Solomon Islands says he was “manhandled” and kicked out of a cheese factory after trying to raise concerns with Scott Morrison over the management of the relationship with Honiara.

Trevor Sofield, now a local in the Tasmanian seat of Bass after serving as high commissioner for four years in the 1980s, said he was pushed and “manhandled” by the Prime Minister’s security detail and the owners of the Ashgrove Cheese Factory.

Mr Sofield was visiting the cheese factory at the same time as the Prime Minister on Thursday and was prevented from speaking directly with Mr Morrison.

“I simply wanted to say to him, I’d like you to know that you’ve lost my vote this year because of the way in which your government has mishandled our relationship,” he said.

“I didn’t get the chance, I was pushed, I was shoved. What sort of election, what sort of country have we got when a citizen can’t talk to a prime minister?”

He said the government had “lost the plot” when it came to its Pacific relationships and, despite admiring Bridget Archer as the local MP for his electorate, could not vote for the Liberals.

Mr Sofield said a new government would present an “opportunity to reset the relationship”.

He confirmed he had taken two friends who were visiting from the US to the cheese factory as an activity for the day, before running into Mr Morrison and the travelling media.

One of the owners of Ashgrove, Paul Bennett, who was identified to The Australian by Mr Sofield, denied touching the former high commissioner.

Mr Bennett said Mr Sofield had acted “selfishly” and, as a result, Mr Morrison’s visit to the factory was “cut short”.

“Some of the people we’ve sent to the South Pacific also have not really understood the needs of the South Pacific,” Mr Sofield said.

“I find it incomprehensible when you did not know in advance what was happening in the Solomon Islands.”

He said Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne should have been sent instead of Minister for the Pacific Zed Seselja.

“She should have been there before,” he said. “She should have be going there every single year.”

Mr Sofield said Australia didn’t need to be a “big brother” to the nation, but just to work more closely alongside the country.

He said the Pacific Step Up, implemented by the Coalition, had been “too little too late”.