Tuvalu pact reveals Australia as Pacific’s ‘partner of choice’

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles says a security pact with Tuvalu shows that Australia is the partner of choice’ for Pacific nations.

Deputy PM Richard Marles. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Morgan Sette

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has praised the signing of a new security pact with the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu as a “watershed” moment, with the agreement being hailed as the most significant yet between Australia and a Pacific nation.

The Defence Minister rejected suggestions that Tuvalu was now an Australian protectorate, and said the new agreement revealed that Australia was the natural “partner of choice” for the Pacific Island nation with a population of 11,000 people.

Mr Marles told Sky News on Sunday morning that it was a “very big moment, obviously, in our relationship with Tuvalu” and also “a watershed in our relationship with the Pacific.”

“What this agreement represents is a much greater commitment for Australia to be providing more of Tuvalu’s defence. There’s a $16m commitment around coastal enhancement … And it will provide for 280 visas every year for Tuvaluans to come to Australia to work, to study,” he said. “And again, that might not seem like a large number in the context of Australia’s immigration program, but for a country of 11,000 people, that’s a huge number.”

“What this really means though, is that we are deeply focused and it is a much greater commitment to the human development of Tuvalu. And from the perspective of Tuvalu this is easily the biggest step forward that has been taken in its history around its own human development.

The government also announced on Sunday that Australia was supporting the Solomon Islands as the host of the 2023 Pacific Games through a $17m “Pacific Games Partnership” which would help bring together about 5,000 athletes, officials and support staff from 24 Pacific teams in Honiara from November 19 to December 2.

Finalised during Mr Albanese’s recent visit to the Pacific Islands Forum in the Cook Islands, the new treaty with Tuvalu will not only allow the citizens of the Pacific nation who face increasing threats from climate change to live, work and study in Australia – it also sends a key message to China.

Under the “Falepili Union” – Falepili is the Tuvaluan term for neighbours who live in close houses – Australia will come to the assistance of the Pacific nation if it experiences a natural disaster health pandemic or military aggression.

One of the key features of the treaty is a mutual agreement clause which would require Australia’s approval before Tuvalu can sign any security or defence deal with another country.

Asked if the agreement could be used as a template for similar agreements with other Pacific Island nations, Mr Marles said Australia’s focus was “on this agreement for now.”

“We seek to be the natural partner of choice for countries in the Pacific. But clearly this is a demonstration of what Australia can do,” he said. “This is a watershed in our relationship with the Pacific.”

Mr Marles played down how the agreement would be seen in China, arguing that it would be received in Beijing in the “way in which it is.”

Opposition Defence spokesman Andrew Hastie said it was good that Mr Albanese had recently met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in China, but argued it was now up to Beijing to “demonstrate good faith.”

“So we are looking for the release of Dr Yang Hengjun. We’d like to see all sanctions lifted against Australian primary producers who were hurt very badly over the last few years.”

In relation to the Pacific, Mr Hastie said the Coalition welcomed “any sort of deepening of our relationships with Pacific Island countries.”

“Richard Marles just earlier hinted that there is a geopolitical contest ongoing in the Indo-Pacific region. The great game is on to say it more directly. And we really need to work harder to build our relationships with those Pacific Island countries.”