PRIME Minister Manasseh Sogavare has had a fruitful discussion with Australia’s visiting minister of International Development and Pacific and also the Minister for Defense industry, Hon. Pat Conroy.
Honorable Conroy’s visit, coming several weeks after the visit by Australia’s deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles aims to among other things, further strengthen the relationship between Solomon Islands and Australia.
Minister Conroy emphasized the longstanding relations between the two countries and very clearly articulating Australia’s respect for Solomon Islands sovereignty and its ability as a sovereign country to make its own decisions in the same manner as other countries including Australia exercise their sovereignty in making decisions important to them.
He reiterated Australia’s readiness to support Solomon Islands in its development journey as well as in its security requirements and thanked the Prime Minister for his consistent message that Australia remains Solomon Island’s partner of choice in its development and security priorities.
Minister Conroy stated Australia stands ready to listen to Solomon Islands on priorities that may not have been met so that such priorities can be considered in partnership with Solomon Islands. Minister Conroy reiterated the importance Australia places on Solomon Islands and highlighted its budget support for the Solomon Island government’s priorities such as the 2024 Pacific games, the upcoming National General Elections, and their ongoing support in other sectors as examples of Australia’s long-term commitment to Solomon Islands’ development.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare welcomed Minister Conroy on his second visit to Solomon Islands, the first being when he made the announcement of Australia’s $100 million Solomon dollar support to the 2023 Pacific Games and conveyed his government’s sincere appreciation and gratitude for Australia’s support to the 2023 Pacific Games, the upcoming national general elections and other areas of support including the health, education, and police sectors.
PM Sogavare clarified that Solomon Islands relationship with China is one of an economic partnership because that is the country’s single largest gap and a pressing priority. He highlighted the magnitude of unmet development priorities demanded by all provinces that dated back to the Townsville Peace Agreement, noting, that they are simply too big for any one single donor to help the Solomon Island government to address, hence the importance of broadening the country’s development partner base. He expressed his hope that all our development partners will work together to help Solomon Islands achieve its pressing development goals and targets.
He also informed Minister Conroy that the National Parliament has been briefed on all the MOUs and Agreements signed between Solomon Islands and China to date. He further clarified that the agreement on police cooperation signed recently was an implementation agreement on the Police cooperation MOU signed previously and that it complements the arrangement Solomon Islands has with Australia.
Prime Minister Sogavare assured Minister Conroy that the government knows the boundaries and it will not do anything that will in any way undermine the security of the Pacific region nor of the countries within the region, including and especially Australia. He emphasized that the security of Solomon Islands is important for Solomon Islands and for the region.
Prime Minister Sogavare also thanked Australia for its support to the Labour Mobility program, the Tina hydro project, the high dependency ward at the NRH and other support including the SIAF support. He confirmed the government’s wish to extend the SIAF arrangement beyond the Pacific Games to the end of June 2024 to cover the period of the national general election and that within this period of extension that the security agreement / treaty between Solomon Islands and Australia could also be reviewed and refreshed considering new challenges and priorities.
He informed Minister Conroy that RSIPF wishes to surge its numbers of officers from the PNG Police constabulary to 100 officers in total but deployed in two cohorts the first in mid-August and the second toward end of October to provide security to all PG2023 assets. He also informed Minister Conroy of RSIPF’s request to increase the SIAF contingent in the lead up to the games.
He also requested support to the Solomon Islands National University and the Ministry of Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening, to give breathing space for the Ministry of Finance and Treasury to allocate more resources to the 2023 Pacific Games.
The Prime Minister reaffirmed Solomon Islands’ support for Australia’s bid to host the COP 31 in 2026, citing that the Pacific region is already in a Climate emergency and it is fitting for the region to host the prestigious meeting.
He also wished the Matilda’s all the best for the Women’s World cup tournament currently being hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Source: OPMC
