Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the member for Reid and her very personal story. I acknowledge what she said but do want to point out, at the outset, that the private member's motion states that it recognises the 'renewed engagement of the government in the Pacific' and so forth. The word renewed is interesting, offensive, as the former speaker says, because as the former government we did so much to help the Pacific—rightly so, deservedly so, justifiably. Let's not let the current government just wipe all over that and rewrite history. Let's not let the current government make out as if nothing was done, because if there is one important area in the world, right now, it is the Pacific, and the day of reckoning for this government is soon going to arrive.

The government accused us, when we were in government, of being there only for photo opportunities, and that was certainly not the case. But what we have seen over the past three months, in many cases, is just that—the photo-op, the media opportunity. What we are about to see is this government having to make important decisions about the Solomons and their controversial security agreement with Beijing, signed earlier this year, and what that means for visiting ships. Certainly, the Conflict Islands and what the government's going to do about the ownership of those important islands, just east of Papua New Guinea—we haven't seen, thus far, anything coming from the government that suggests that any sort of decision is going to happen any time soon.

What the government also needs to remember, and remember well, in its rhetoric, in its narrative, is that whenever there was a disaster in the Pacific—they're not all, let me tell you, due to climate change; certainly not. Whenever there was a natural calamity, it was Australia sending HMAS Adelaide, or whatever ship, plane loads of fresh water, personnel, equipment and, most importantly, our defence people to help out those islands when they were in their hour of dire need. That's what we will continue to do as a responsible neighbour, as a responsible country. That's what Australia does. It rolls up its sleeves and it helps.

So it worries me, sometimes, when we hear the narrative coming out of the mouths of the government members and ministers that nothing was done over the nine years of the former government. That is very disturbing, because we did a lot. As former Prime Minister Morrison told fellow G20 leaders on 26 March, 'Our Pacific island family must be a focus of international support. There has never been a more important time for Australia's Pacific step-up as we all face these massive challenges.' He was right then just as anybody is who says the same thing now, and they should. Australia's support for our Pacific island family must and has always gone far beyond climate.

But, worryingly, what the current government hasn't actually stated is what is going to happen with this new 43 per cent target as to some of the infrastructure that needs to be, and is going to be, built in the Pacific. What happens when, let's say, a new runway is funded, partly helped by this government and partly helped by other good friends and neighbours? What effect might that potential infrastructure have on emissions into the future? Will it be built because of the new 43 per cent target? Will it be able to be constructed? Those are the questions that the government needs to answer. Those are the questions that people are starting to ask. Those are the questions that, indeed, our Pacific friends need to know the answers to.

What we did for the Pacific, apart from provide funding, was establish the Office of the Pacific in 2019 to support Australia's engagement with our valuable friends, to enhance whole-of-government coordination and to drive implementation of our regional activities. These were activities, I have to say, that went far beyond climate, far beyond the apocalypse that was described by the member for Reid. I too, like her, wish the Solomons and all the other countries all the very best as they celebrate all that is great about them. (Time expired)

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