New trans-Tasman blueprint to pledge more ‘active’ Pacific role

Australia and New Zealand will work more actively in the Pacific to counter growing Chinese influence under a new ten-year blueprint for trans-Tasman ties.

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Anthony Albanese in Canberra in February. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Australia and New Zealand will work more actively in the Pacific to counter growing Chinese influence under a new 10-year blueprint for trans-Tasman ties, to be agreed by Anthony Albanese and Kiwi counterpart Chris Hipkins in Wellington on Wednesday.

The relationship road map will strengthen defence co-operation, boosting interoperability and stepping up the nations’ commitment to the Pacific’s “Family First” security agenda.

Closer economic co-operation is also on the agenda, with a potential renewal of the countries’ free trade deal to take advantage of the global green energy transition.

The Prime Minister’s two-day visit to New Zealand comes amid the Anzac partners’ warmest relations in years after Mr Albanese’s commitment last year to a “commonsense approach” to dealing with Kiwi criminals in Australia after they serve their sentences.

The leaders are also in broad agreement on security issues, and Mr Hipkins is poised to announce a renewal of his country’s military capabilities to deal with “a more contested and difficult world”.

In a scheduled 90-minute bilateral meeting, the leaders are expected to commit to a more active joint approach to supporting Pacific partners’ security and natural disaster preparation.

They will discuss the strategic challenges posed by China, including its efforts to win over Pacific Island states such as Solomon Islands, and the potential regional impacts of a conflict over Taiwan.

Mr Albanese will update Mr Hipkins on Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine ambitions and progress on AUKUS’s so-called “pillar two” technology partnership, which Mr Hipkins has suggested New Zealand might join.

The leaders will also mark the 40th anniversary of the nations’ Closer Economic Relationship Trade Agreements, committing to fresh co-operation on clean energy and green finance initiatives.

Professor David Capie, director of strategic studies at the Victoria University of Wellington, said Mr Albanese’s announcement that New Zealand criminals would no longer be automatically deported when they left jail had “gone down very well here”, and the relationship was the most positive it had been for many years. He said the visit was likely to see a “recommittal of vows” by the long-time allies, and a plan to respond to common challenges.

“A lot of the messages … from Prime Minister Hipkins in the last couple of months in terms of how New Zealand sees the changes in the wider Indo-Pacific I think really underscore a commonality of views with Australia,” Professor Capie said.

Mr Hipkins this month released a new foreign policy blueprint warning many assumptions that had underpinned his country’s dealings with the world had changed, and it needed to place a higher priority on national security and resilience.

He vowed in a recent speech to invest in a “combat-capable defence force”, raising opportunities for much closer training and capability co-operation with Australia, and will soon release the country’s first-ever national security strategy.

Mr Albanese’s trip comes amid growing concerns over Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s increasingly close relationship with Beijing and his attacks on Australia and the US.

Mr Sogavare’s confirmation he was sounding out partners about creating a Solomon Islands defence force has also raised the prospect he could seek further security support from China.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy, who met with Mr Sogavare in Honiara on Tuesday, said he was reassured by the Solomons leader that “if there are gaps or requests they will come to Australia to fill”.

Mr Conroy said Solomon Islands was free to strike agreements with partners, such as its security pact with China, but called for the details of such deals to be made public. “I think it’s in everyone’s interest to be transparent about all agreements that have been entered into, but we’re proud to be the primary security partner for this country,” he said.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said: “We’ve expressed a view as a government … consistent with the rest of the Pacific region that Pacific interests are most assured if we can provide security within the Pacific family.”