Source: Prime Minister of Australia
SITIVENI RABUKA, PRIME MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI: Well, we’ve had a great morning, Prime Minister Albanese and I, and it has been my honour to warmly welcome again to Fiji my colleague and friend Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Prime Minister of Australia, welcome back to the Pacific. I believe you are now beginning to feel that it is really your Pacific home. Today represents a very defining moment in our relationship – Fiji-Australia relationship. Together as some of you witnessed, Prime Minister Albanese and I have just signed, with his Excellency the President of Fiji as witnessing dignitary, he signed our treaty, the Vuvale Treaty and the Ocean of Peace Alliance, the Veitacini mutual security, brotherly or sisterly mutual security framework. These landmark agreements mark a very significant elevation of our bilateral relationship into a new era of strategic partnership. These instruments formalise a comprehensive and enduring framework anchored on three central pillars – deeper security cooperation, enhanced economic integration and resilience, and strengthened people to people connection. In advancing this particular partnership we acknowledge with very deep appreciation Australia’s commitment of over Fiji dollars $280 million in new investments since the renewal of the Vuvale Partnership in October of 2023. This reflects the tangible depth of our cooperation and its expanding footprint across key sectors of national development. We also recognise Australia’s expanded development assistance to the Pacific now totalling Australian dollars $2.2 billion, including a further increase of Australian dollars, $63 million. This is a clear affirmation of Australia’s sustained commitment to the stability, resilience and prosperity of the Blue Pacific region at a time of global uncertainty. These treaties reflect our shared understanding of the evolving and interconnected challenges that are facing our region. These include the increasing sophistication of transnational organised crime networks, illegal drug trafficking, cyber enabled threats, and emerging public health challenges including the rise of non-communicable disease and HIV in parts of our region. Importantly, they established practical and forward looking mechanisms for cooperation to strengthen prevention, enforcement, intelligence sharing and regional resilience. Equally, this new framework recognises the inextricable, that’s an English word, link between economic security, or Australian word, and national security. It provides renewed emphasis on cooperation in areas critical to Fiji’s long term development, including circular labour mobility, transport and logistics systems, energy transition, digital transformation, cyber security and the protection of very important, even critical, infrastructure. These are not only development priorities, they are foundational in the resilience and sovereignty of our economies in an increasingly competitive global environment. These agreements, ladies and gentlemen of the media, are firmly grounded in the principles of mutual respect, sovereignty and equality of partnership. They reaffirm Fiji and Australia as trusted partners working together not only for bilateral benefits, but as contributors to a more stable, peaceful and resilient Blue Pacific continent. In this regard I commend Prime Minister Albanese for Australia’s continued support and leadership and the leaders appeal for global peace. I thank him very much being one of the first to come up and support Fiji’s call and the Pacific call for an understanding of Pacific Ocean of peace and continuing that and spreading it on. Calling other leaders to appeal for global peace. The Pacific must continue to assert its role as a principled voice for dialogue, diplomacy and respect for international law in an increasingly fragmented global order. But we’re hopeful, we’re still hopeful that we’ll come together. Today’s outcomes also give practical expression to our shared commitment to a rules based international order and advance the Pacific led vision of an ocean of peace. This is a vision that places the Pacific not at the periphery of global affairs, but at the centre of shaping norms of cooperation, peace and collective security. The Fiji media don’t normally get this long statement from me, but bear with me. Climate change remains a defining challenge for our time. For Fiji and the wider Pacific, it’s not a futuristic but a lived and daily reality. I therefore express sincere appreciation to Prime Minister Albanese and the people of Australia and the Government of Australia for your leadership, particularly as Prime Minister, in ensuring strong Pacific participation in the COP31 process and for your support in the joint hosting of the pre-COP meeting in Nadi and Tuvalu in October of this year. These are very important steps towards strengthening global ambition and ensuring climate justice for vulnerable states, particularly those island states of the Pacific. Prime Minister Albanese, I thank you for your leadership, your partnership and your commitment to advancing these historic agreements. Fiji remains fully committed to working with Australia to implement the Vuvale Union Treaty and the Ocean of Peace Alliance in a manner that delivers real measurable outcomes for all our peoples. Together, we are not only strengthening bilateral ties, we are helping to shape a more peaceful, resilient and cooperative future for our region and beyond. Ladies and gentlemen of the press corps, of the media. I’m pleased to invite Prime Minister Albanese to address you and don’t ask me any questions after.
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