Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) | Link to this | Hansard source

I table the Ocean of Peace Alliance and the Fiji-Australia Vuvale Union treaties, together with associated documents, and I move:

That the Senate take note of the documents.

At a time of great uncertainty, risk and contestation, the Albanese government recognises that Australia cannot afford to be a passive observer of the profound changes occurring around us.

Peace is never a given.

And we are not here to just occupy the space.

For the past four years, we have been building Australia's future in our region.

A future built through partnerships, not coercion.

A future built by the countries and the peoples of our region.

That is why, from the outset, the Albanese government has listened to our region, engaged with respect and humility, and acted on our shared priorities.

We are investing in being the partner of choice for our immediate region, including the Pacific.

We are using all tools of statecraft to invest in Pacific relationships, trust and regionalism.

Embracing Pacific leadership and backing initiatives that make our region safer, more prosperous and more resilient.

And we could not have a better partner in this than Fiji.

Under Prime Minister Rabuka, Fiji has crafted and tirelessly championed a vision of our blue Pacific as an 'ocean of peace' that the Pacific family has embraced.

As Prime Minister Rabuka described it:

"a region in which strategic competition is managed; where stability is the touchstone of regional relationships; and where coercion is eschewed. A region where differences are resolved peacefully'.

Fiji is a leader in our region, and one of only three Pacific island countries with a military.

Australian and Fijian service men and women have stood shoulder to shoulder in two world wars, in deployments to support our region's security, and in peacekeeping missions across the world.

And it is in the shared pursuit of peace, stability and prosperity, that we deepen our partnership.

I know Prime Minister Albanese was deeply moved to receive Fiji's highest honour—the Companion of the Order of Fiji—on the same day as signing these landmark treaties.

As the name of our treaty suggests, Australia and Fiji are one family—one Vuvale.

Australia was honoured to accept Prime Minister Rabuka's proposal for the Ocean of Peace Alliance.

An alliance is the highest act of trust between two nations.

This is Fiji's first alliance and only Australia's fourth.

It will build ever deeper levels of interoperability.

We will plan, train, exercise and deploy together, strengthening our combined capability to enhance our respective sovereignty and ensure our nations' and our region's security at a time of fracture and disruption.

The Vuvale Union treaty is equally important.

It will be a multigenerational endeavour to integrate our economies, our security and our peoples.

It is backed by more than a billion dollars of investment over a decade, including grants and loans.

On security: together, we will elevate our fight against the scourge of transnational crime and illicit drugs.

With an investment of $181 million, the AFP will work hand in hand with the Fiji police force to disrupt criminal networks and strengthen intelligence to interdict drugs before they reach Fijian or Australian shores.

We'll support Australian doctors and nurses to enhance specialist training for Fiji's health workers, boosting Fiji's response to the fastest growing HIV outbreak in the world.

Under our economic pillar, we will finance nation-building infrastructure—ports and major climate adaptation projects—strengthening Fiji's role as a regional hub.

We will back Fiji's economic diversification agenda, supporting secure digital infrastructure, enhancing critical infrastructure investment screening, and increasing supply chain resilience.

Our final pillar is our people.

Australia and Fiji are linked by deep personal connections, including more than 100,000 people in Australia with Fijian heritage.

Our multifaith, multicultural communities and First Nations peoples share a strong bond.

For thousands of years, Australia's First Nations peoples have maintained connections across our region.

During World War II, Fijian missionaries, skilled farmers, builders and sailors worked alongside the Yolngu people, and elders still recall the esteem in which they were held.

The theme of this year's Garma festival was 'Bukmak'—a local Yolngu word meaning 'everyone'.

The same name was gifted to the Bukmak Forum established through the Vuvale Union.

The Bukmak Forum will bring together government, traditional faith and business leaders as our two nations build a shared future.

Yolngu elder Djapirri Mununggirritj travelled 40 hours from Yirrkala to stand with our prime ministers at the treaty's signing.

And a Fijian delegation, including Fiji's Minister for Women, Sashi Kiran, and traditional leaders, joined this year's Garma festival.

This reflects the spirit of shared history, purpose and vision that drives the partnership between Australia and Fiji and the foundations upon which we have now chosen to elevate our bilateral relationship.

Colleagues, these two treaties tabled in parliament today will transform our relationship far beyond what was contemplated when we started this journey together.

They will form a durable structure for generations of the future.

I have just returned from Fiji, where Pacific Islands Forum foreign ministers reaffirmed our leaders' call to give practical effect to the Blue Pacific Ocean of Peace Declaration.

These are the first two treaties to answer that call.

As Prime Minister Rabuka has said, these treaties reaffirm Fiji and Australia as trusted partners working together not only to benefit each other but as contributors to a more stable, peaceful and resilient Blue Pacific continent.

We know that in these unprecedented, dangerous times, we are stronger together, and everything we do will also be aimed at supporting our Pacific region.

Investments in Fiji will flow on to the Pacific family, which relies on Fiji as a regional hub for transport, logistics, education and health care.

These two treaties send an unequivocal signal of our commitment to each other and to the Pacific family.

They will help realise the vision of an ocean of peace to make us all more secure, prosperous and resilient.

I commend the Ocean of Peace Alliance and Vuvale Union treaties to the Senate for consideration.

Jessica Collins (NSW, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

The coalition welcomes the signing of the Vuvale Union treaty and the Ocean of Peace Alliance—the Veitacini Treaty. This is with our regional friend and now ally, and this is a really big moment for Australia and for Fiji. As the Minister for Foreign Affairs said, it is Fiji's first alliance and Australia's fourth. They are quite rare indeed. This is an uplift in the military relationship, and we know that Fiji and Australia have stood side-by-side. The Fijian personnel are embedded into Australian units.

I really wish I didn't have to do this, but we heard today the Foreign minister take a partisan swipe at the coalition and the coalition's record in the Pacific, and she did say that there was a neglect of the region, so let's put the facts on the table here. The coalition government in 2019, under former prime minister Scott Morrison, signed the Fiji-Australia Vuvale Partnership, which underpins this alliance. We got that in motion. The coalition got that in motion. We did not neglect the region. In fact, we charged on with the step-up.

Now, the coalition has a very proud record of delivery in the Pacific, including major contributions through the Pacific Step-up, the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific, the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme, Coral Sea Cable and the opening of new diplomatic missions giving Australia representation in every member of the Pacific Islands Forum. The list goes on. But I will stop here because it's important to talk about the alliance and the union, the treaty, that have been signed between Australia and Fiji.

The coalition supports more engagement. It's a good thing that this has happened, even if done under Labor, because it's good for all of us. It is good for security. It strengthens regional security. These agreements speak to our partnership with Fiji and the need for closer ties—security ties and people-to-people links. They affirm our shared values and increase cooperation and consultation regarding security related threats. We welcome that outcome; we do. But again I make the point that this formed part of the substantial work undertaken in the Pacific by the former, coalition government, and that should again go on the record, given the propensity of those opposite to make spurious claims about our record of delivery.

Now, there is some good news in these arrangements. The Vuvale union will strengthen ties and promote security, democracy and stability. But I do have concerns regarding article 4, part (4), section (a), where both parties 'commit to peace and security through the transformation of their economies to net zero emissions'.

Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Tourism) | Link to this | Hansard source

There we go. You wouldn't have signed it.

Jessica Collins (NSW, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, there we go. I'll tell you why I have a problem with it, thank you, Assistant Minister for Pacific Island Affairs. I'll tell you why I have a problem with it. Article 4, part (7) says:

Neither Party shall act in a manner that would undermine their ability to meet any of their obligations pursuant to this Article.

Instead of acknowledging the challenges in the region, you tied it to a specific contested policy, a partisan policy—a policy that is not agreed to on a bipartisan level. Why would you tie your domestic energy and industrial policy to that of another country? Where is the sovereign interest in that? Where is the sovereign independence in that?

David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

AUKUS!

Jessica Collins (NSW, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

This treaty is not bipartisan. It is short sighted and it opens the door to conflict.

David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

AUKUS!

Slade Brockman (WA, Deputy-President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Collins, please resume your seat. Senator Wong was heard in silence. Let's give Senator Collins the same respect.

Senator Shoebridge! Senator Collins, you have the call.

Jessica Collins (NSW, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

In article 3, part (3), sections (a) to (c), the parties commit to deepen engagement by enhancing economic growth, digital economies and personal links, including through mobility. These are all things that I've long advocated, including in my maiden speech. These are good things. But I've argued that we need regional integration on all of these issues so that they go deeper, longer and further than a bilateral agreement.

One part of that integration is defence. It should be raising a Pacific infantry regiment as an entirely rotational force, where our soldiers could train and deploy side by side with our Pacific family. The Ocean of Peace Alliance, or the Veitacini Treaty, tabled today enshrines mutual defence obligations and a framework to develop visiting force agreements. As I said in my maiden speech last year, for Australia to remain the preferred security partner in the Pacific and to secure the ocean of peace, we need to not just sign security agreements but pursue real defence integration with our Pacific partners. Australia's Pacific integration must cover all aspects of force posture, including intelligence sharing, defence training, disaster response capability, logistics arrangements, resilient infrastructure and enhanced maritime security cooperation.

Last month I had the honour and privilege of attending RimPac, the US led military exercises, where I gained firsthand insight into the training environment of our service personnel and the importance of defence integration with allies and partners—to strengthen readiness, to train in the region, to practise in the region together, understanding the landscape of the Indo-Pacific. There were representatives from Tonga and Fiji at RimPac, and it was terrific to see them embedded into the program. We also know that Papua New Guinea now plays a huge role in Exercise Pitch Black in the Top End of Australia. These are all good things, and they are important because, in our current strategic environment, we need to be ready to deploy with our friends and allies.

China continues to test the region's security architecture, including by launching a missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads into our ocean of peace and doing live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea. A security agreement alone is not sufficient to protect our ocean of peace. That has been made abundantly clear. I therefore urge the government to pursue meaningful defence integration with our Pacific partners and to lift defence spending as a matter of urgency. Australia cannot afford to be complacent should the PLA Navy again seek to circumnavigate our coastline, conduct live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea or launch ballistic missiles directed towards our Pacific partners. We have to step up to deter, because diplomacy and deterrence are the only credible ways to protect and maintain our ocean of peace indefinitely for the benefit of the entire Pacific family.

I commend the government and Prime Minister Rabuka for their work on this, but there is so much more to do, including cleaning up the mess on inserting a Labor political agenda into what should be a bipartisan led treaty.

Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I also wish to speak on the ministerial statement by our Foreign minister, Senator Wong, tonight and also follow on from earlier today, in question time, where I asked Minister Wong about Australia's very close relationship with one of our closest friends in the Pacific, Fiji. It is great to see the two countries, under the leadership of Minister Wong and the Albanese government, doing the hard yards to try and repair the damage that was left by the previous administration in terms of our Pacific neighbours.

The Fiji-Australia Vuvale Union and the Ocean of Peace Alliance between Australia and Fiji, as we heard earlier from the minister, mark a very important and new chapter in the relationship between our two wonderful countries. They represent two of the most significant agreements ever made in the Pacific region. They are also a very clear demonstration of the progress that the Albanese Labor government is making in strengthening Australia's place in the Pacific and something that we are very proud to do since being elected. For Fiji, this is their first alliance. To be clear, this is their first alliance—something that others, previous governments, could have done in their time. For Australia, it is our fourth, something that we are very proud about and something that we want to see more of with our closest neighbours, particularly in the Pacific.

The Ocean of Peace Alliance reflects Australia's very much deep respect for the sovereignty of our neighbours. Pacific leaders have agreed that Pacific security should be led by the Pacific, and this alliance absolutely reflects that principle. Peace is the greatest priority for our Pacific neighbours. Above all, the region wants to see a future that is free of war. Australia and Fiji have stood together through some of the greatest crises that the Pacific has ever faced. We just have to remember, back during the First and Second World Wars, Fiji's contribution to the Allied efforts that far exceeded their size. Fijian troops fought alongside Australian and New Zealand forces in the Second World War, most notably during the Bougainville campaign, and our soldiers happily served together in the fight for a much better and freer future. This treaty is a historic achievement that honours their sacrifice. It signals that neither of our nations will ever stop fighting for an ocean of peace.

Today, this commitment is more important than ever. Not since the end of the Second World War has the region faced such strategic uncertainty. In an age where great powers are increasingly viewing the Pacific as a stage for geopolitical competition, Australia has never been much prouder to be a partner of choice for the region. We are proud of our efforts to strengthen our relationships with our neighbours. We will always invest in our vuvale, our Pacific family, because family is so integral to many of our Pacific islands neighbours. We are proudly committed to regional sovereignty, and we are also committed to a crucial role in the Pacific Islands Forum. Australia's commitment to supporting regional security and governance architecture is reinforced by these agreements.

The Ocean of Peace Alliance is a framework that could form the foundation of increased cooperation between Australia, Fiji and other like-minded nations in the region. Such cooperation will also help ensure the security of the region in uncertain times. In response to uncertainty, we must also lean on the dependability and reliability of our friends, and that only happens through consistency, through engagement and through a demonstration that we actually do genuinely believe in each other's values and friendship. Only by standing together can we ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy the peace that we today seek to protect.

The Vuvale Union treaty will bring Australia and Fiji closer than ever and recognise our special bond. Australia will commit more than $1 billion of investment over a decade to support Fijian health care, Fijian infrastructure, Fijian economic diversification and, importantly, Fijian security. Through this treaty, Australia is well placed to help Fiji fight recent HIV outbreaks and to fight the scourge of transnational crime and illicit drugs.

Overall, these historic treaties will deepen our ties and help create a safer and more prosperous future for countries and the region. I want to commend the work by our Foreign minister, Minister Wong; our Pacific minister, Pat Conroy in the other place; and our assistant minister for the region, Senator Nita Green in this place, who I know holds very dearly to her heart the region and the people of the Pacific given not just her role as a senator for the great state of Queensland but her proximity, in Far North Queensland, to our neighbours in the Pacific.

On that note, not only do I commend the ministerial statement to our colleagues but I make this last point: Australia will continue to support Pacific led regional cooperation, and we stand together with and alongside our neighbours as we face the challenges ahead in what seems to be a very challenging time over the short to medium term. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.