By Loretta B Manele
Australia wants to make the Pacific a centrepiece of its foreign policy.
Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles made this clear during his visit to the country on Saturday 18th at a brief meeting with the media after having met with Prime Minister Manele.
He said they see their engagement with the pacific as being front and centre in terms of how they engage with the world.
“I couldn’t be happier with the way in which our government has acted over the last three years in pursuit of that goal.”
He mentioned that Penny Wong, Australia’s foreign minister has been more present in the pacific than any foreign minister in their country’s history.
Marles said this speaks of the priority they are placing on the pacific.
“All of that activity speaks to how importantly we regard the pacific in terms of Australia’s interests, in terms of our security, in terms of our strategic landscape, in terms of our worldview.
“That is not just a question of the visits that we’ve made. It’s how we have changed the relationships that we’ve got with the countries of the pacific.”
Marles pointed out that the agreement signed between our two Prime Ministers in December last year on the partnership to increase the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) capacity is a perfect example of that.
He expressed that this will really see the development of a transformational capability in Solomon Islands in terms of law and order.
“We want to move the dial here in Solomon Islands but across the pacific on the various issues and challenges which the pacific face.”
He noted that the heart of this aspiration is seeing a fundamental improvement in the human development of the people of the pacific.
