Page 17 - IB AUG 2019

Politics

Vanuatu’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Ralph Regenvanu, Australian PM Scott Morrison and Tuvalu PM Enele Sopoaga meet the media at the end of the Forum.
Photos: Nic Maclellan
Trouble in the family don’t take kindly to being lectured by a
first-time participant. Speaking to The
Guardian newspaper around the grog
Climate divides Forum….again bowl after the retreat, Fiji Prime Minister
Voreqe Bainimarama blasted Morrison as
“very insulting, very condescending, not
good for the relationship.”
In Funafuti, the score was 17-1. “After yesterday’s meeting I gathered
Much of the media coverage has fo- he was here only to make sure that the
cussed on Australia’s efforts to censor the Australian policies were upheld by the
language of the final Forum communique, Pacific island nations,” Bainimarama said.
as if this is new or that Australia is the “I thought Morrison was a good friend of
only country pushing its own agenda mine; apparently not. The Prime Minister
(shock, horror, the sky is blue!) But de- at one stage, because he was apparently
By Nic Maclellan
spite the watered-down language, there [backed] into a corner by the leaders, came
are elements in the final Kainaki II climate up with how much money Australia have
JUST before the 50th Pacific Islands Fo- declaration that will horrify Morrison’s been giving to the Pacific. He said: ‘I want
rum, the Wallabies thrashed the All Blacks conservative backbench. that stated. I want that on the record.’ Very
47-26 in the first game of the Bledisloe Communiques come and go, but the insulting.”
Cup. As a rugby fan, Australian Prime key feature of the leaders’ retreat is that New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, in
Minister Scott Morrison might have taken it provides a chance for Presidents and contrast, kept her head down. As leaders
this as a good omen, as he headed to his Prime Ministers to meet face to face, build entered the retreat, she strolled alongside
first Forum leaders’ retreat in Funafuti, friendships, or at least come to a practical Bainimarama and sat beside him during
Tuvalu. Bad mistake. working relationship. On this basis, Mor- the meeting. The Fijian leader later tweet-
Straight after the Forum, Fiji Prime Min- rison’s actions in Tuvalu were a disaster. ed: “When combatting climate change, it’s
ister Voreqe Bainimarama rushed home to Listening to post-retreat comments from good to have an ally like New Zealand in
watch the broadcast of the deciding game Pacific leaders and officials, Morrison’s your corner. Together we can save Tuvalu,
at Eden Park. After a tense week in Tuvalu, ham-fisted interventions on climate policy the Pacific and the world. Vinaka vakalevu
one suspects the Fiji leader, a confirmed have alienated many of his island counter- for the passion you bring to the fight.”
Wallabies fan, was cheering for the All parts. Having seen off successive Austra- Point noted in both Wellington and
Blacks. They thrashed Australia 36-0. lian Prime Ministers over the last decade Canberra. Morrison’s favourite radio shock
It’s an appropriate symbol for the – Rudd, Gillard, Rudd again, Abbott, jock Alan Jones said the Australian Prime
thrashing of Australia’s climate policies Turnbull and now Morrison – old-timers Minister should “shove a shock down her
in the 18-member regional organisation. like Samoa’s Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi throat” (after an advertising boycott, Jones

Islands Business, August 2019 17