Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) | Hansard source

I thank Senator Wong for her question. We have been aware of increasing interest with engagement with China in the Solomon Islands for some time, and we have absolutely and consistently demonstrated that Australia is always ready to support the Solomon Islands, together with members of the Pacific family, particularly in our work together.

The most recent demonstration of that is the strength of the response of Australian, New Zealand, Papua New Guinean and Fijian representatives as part of the Solomon Islands Assistance Force in November of last year, which deployed more than 200 AFP, Defence Force and DFAT personnel to assist in the restoration of law and order. About 50 members of the ADF, the AFP and DFAT remain deployed in those tasks in the Solomon Islands.

On 24 March, the Solomon Islands Prime Minister also announced that we will be extending our bilateral security treaty assistance to support and assist the Solomon Islands in preparing for the Pacific Games, which will be in December 2023 and that we will construct a second patrol boat outpost on the Solomon Islands' eastern border. That is in addition to the Western Border and Patrol Boat Outpost in the Shortland Islands. We'll also build an integrated police, health and disaster management radio network across the Solomon Islands. These are matters—particularly the latter, the radio network—which have been under discussion with Solomon Islands officials for a period of time. For example, Minister Andrews and I participated in a bilateral security meeting with Foreign Minister Manele and the police minister some months ago, in its regular rotation as part of that process. I would also say to the chamber that we've been clear— (Time expired)