Australia to spend $1b on defence alliance with Fiji in blow to China

SMH - Australia and Fiji’s new defence alliance could be expanded to other nations in a major victory for the Albanese government as it seeks to limit China’s influence in Pacific security affairs.

The Ocean of Peace defence pact goes further than most analysts expected and means Australia has added a fourth formal treaty ally on top of the United States, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Backed by $1 billion in funding from Australia over the next decade, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed the alliance and a separate Vuvale Union covering the economy, climate, health and migration with Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka during a visit to the capital, Suva, on Monday morning.

The treaty was officially announced just hours before China announced it had launched a nuclear-capable long-range missile with a dummy warhead in the Pacific Ocean, a test quickly criticised by Australia, New Zealand and other nations.

The Ocean of Peace alliance between Australia and Fiji, which contains mutual defence obligations, is expected to be open to the three other Pacific nations with militaries: Tonga, PNG and New Zealand.

The wording of the agreement, which is similar to the Pukpuk alliance that Australia and PNG struck last year, states that “an armed attack on any of the parties within the Pacific would be dangerous to each other’s peace and security as well as the security of the Pacific, and declares that it would act to meet the common danger, in accordance with its domestic processes”.

It also states: “In the event of a security-related development that threatens the sovereignty, peace or stability of a party, the parties shall consult at the request of any party and consider whether any measures should be taken in relation to the threat.”

Albanese described the signing of the two agreements as “one of the most significant endeavours Australia has undertaken with any country”.

“The Ocean of Peace alliance introduces a mutual defence obligation and there is no higher obligation than to come to each other’s aid at a time of need.”

Albanese said the Vuvale Union treaty “commits us to combat transnational crime, to work together on health issues like HIV, to address the impact of climate change and to build the infrastructure like ports that will further connect our region”.

Rabuka said he expected other nations would seek to join the Ocean of Peace Alliance: “I’m sure right now there are other Pacific leaders who are waiting to come in. The more, the stronger, the better.”

Rabuka said he was pursuing a vision “that places the Pacific not as the periphery of global affairs, but at the centre of shaping norms of co-operation, peace and collective security”.

“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,” he said.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said that Australia and China are in a “permanent contest” in the Pacific, while other senior Australian officials have spoken of being in a daily “knife fight” with China.

The alliance follows a less ambitious agreement Albanese struck with Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat last week, and kicks off a busy week of diplomacy that includes a visit to Brisbane by key Pacific leaders and a visit to Melbourne by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Albanese will visit Solomon Islands for a speedy visit on Wednesday to continue negotiations on a new, comprehensive treaty with counterpart Matthew Wale. Both leaders hope to finalise that agreement by the end of the year.

One of Solomon Islands’ most senior ministers, Peter Kenilorea Junior, told this masthead last month that he wants security and policing co-operation with China to be sidelined in favour of economic development.

Australia is also seeking to strike a significant new treaty with Tonga, on top of those struck in recent years with Tuvalu, Nauru, PNG, Vanuatu and now Fiji.