Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

In question time, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy suggested that I as Minister for International Development and the Pacific had not visited the Pacific. From my appointment, after the November 2019 election, on day one—shortly after, with Prime Minister Morrison, I visited the Solomon Islands. I visited PNG multiple times, Tuvalu for a week for the Pacific Islands Forum, Fiji, Micronesia, Tonga and New Zealand several times in my first nine months. In late January of 2020, I was the last Australian government minister or MP out of the Pacific just before the Australian government closed the border. From then on, I had several dozen Zoom meetings instead of visits to the Pacific.

I would say to the minister for climate change: I have visited more countries and spent more time in Pacific island countries than he has, and I'm prepared for him to correct the record if that is incorrect.

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