Press Conference - Tuvalu
16 August 2019
Prime Minister
PRIME MINISTER SOPOAGA: Everybody, thank you very much. I'm happy to say that the leaders of the Pacific Island Forum here in Tuvalu managed to work together and to stay together and to come through decisions leading to the conclusion of the communique out of the Forum. Also managed to agree and conclude a strong climate change statement from the forum here in Tuvalu. The substance is there. I share the two documents that we issued and circulated. And I'm very, very happy for the atmosphere and the final result of the work of leaders here in Tuvalu. Thank you very much. Now I invite our colleague, Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, to say some comments and remarks and then Vanuatu say some comments and we take questions. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER MORRISON: Thank you very much, Prime Minister Sopoaga, and can I congratulate you and Tuvalu on your excellent hosting of the Pacific Islands Forum and I particularly thank all of the people of Tuvalu for their wonderful reception we had last night and the presentation of cultural performances. It was certainly a big family there last night and what was on display, I think, spoke very much of the spirit of what this meeting has been like. I always speak about Australia's engagement in the Pacific and particularly this Forum meeting as a family gathering and it was very much in that spirit and I want to thank you for your leadership of the Forum, your chairing of the forum and being able to guide us to the completed communique and declaration that we were able to agree yesterday.
Australia's program is to Step Up in the Pacific and that means standing up with our Pacific family when it comes to the issues that are obviously of greatest concern and particularly to Pacific Island nations for whom the threats and challenges of climate change, both now and in the future, are literal. They are self-evident for any of us who have been here over the course of the last few days or elsewhere in the Pacific over a longer period of time and that's why Australia has made the commitments that we have in this area as part of our Paris undertakings and that's why Australia is meeting and not only just will meet its 2020 Kyoto target that we've signed up to, but we will beat them significantly, some 367 billion tonnes and on 2030 we will similarly meet those commitments with the programs that Australia has already outlined.
I also wanted to commend the forum on addressing the many other significant issues in the region. Some of them going back to World War II and dealing with the wrecks and unexploded ordnances, to issues around nuclear testing in the region. But one topic that was particularly, I think, helpful yesterday was the discussion that we had about fishing resources and illegal fishing in the Pacific. This is basically thieving the resources of the Pacific and this is outrageous. Australia works closely with all of our Pacific Island nations, especially through the patrol-class vessels which are provided right across the region, our aerial surveillance to ensure the Pacific Islands resources can be kept secure. But it is essential that all countries ensure that their nationals behave appropriately when it comes to illegal fishing in the Pacific. There's also the threats of plastics pollution and other things which are impacting on the lives of particularly Pacific Island nations but I'd say also Australia. At the end of the day, we want our children to have futures and that means we want them to have jobs and we began this process when I arrived the day before yesterday talking about our partnerships when it came to vocational education and training and indeed the 30 traineeships that we provided here in Tuvalu. So very pleased to be here again. I commend the Chair on his excellent leading of this meeting and we're stepping up, we're standing up and we're getting on with it. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER SOPOAGA: Thank you very much, Prime Minister Morrison. To our colleague, Foreign Minister of Vanuatu, Ralph.
FOREIGN MINISTER OF VANUATU, RALPH REGENVANU: Thank you, Prime Minister, and let me join the Prime Minister of Australia in congratulating you on a very successful event and also your excellent leadership of this meeting and for chairing the meeting yesterday, which was quite a marathon. As the incoming chair and a new member of the troika as of this week, Vanuatu looks forward to trying to beat the standards you set here. It's going to be very difficult, especially in terms of the food and the entertainment. But we are looking forward to hosting the next forum at the same time as our independence anniversary, 40th independence anniversary next year. I would just like to say in short that we feel that the communique that came out on the climate change declaration is a strong platform for which we can then move towards our next meeting in Vanuatu and I commend the leaders for how they produced those two documents and agreed to them and I think they are strong statements and we welcome them and we look forward to working on them in the coming year and after that.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER SOPOAGA: Thank you very much. I believe we have worked to the best that we could and certainly I appreciate the views of leaders respectively and I also appreciate the contributions that leaders make and, of course, we come, we bring our common interest and our national interest on our own. But we always try to move towards a common understanding and therefore raise the recommendations outcome on issues that we can find common grounds and, of course, we... there are preferences, expectations as well. But I think the outcome is a very good outcome, probably the best outcome given the context and circumstances. I fully respect Mr. Regenvanu’s response. But I think it comes from this spirit that we, and we have a very, very strong statement. And one thing that I need to also acknowledge the PIF leaders is the decision to endorse and the language of the small island states leaders which involved the two world climate change such alarming statement. Basically that is also supported by pacific small island developing states. That is a very, very powerful gesture from the PIF leaders. Of course we had to be, accepted, as discussed properly. And I'm grateful we came to that decision. That I say as leaders. Outcomes, decision outcomes contains the language on climate change based on the perspectives of Pacific small island developing states. And I think that further amplifies what our leaders of the PIF climate change statement on the issues that are very, very urgent, caused to, our emissions, significant emission reductions in order to respond to the IPCC special report on 1.5 degrees. So I think it is a strong platform for us to move forward as we prepare to go to the world. To New York. U.N. Secretary-General for climate change summit. So I think it is a platform we can certainly base our forward work on.
JOURNALIST: Mr Sopoaga, how did you and the other Pacific leaders react to Mr Morrison’s arguments about the Australian economy and the need to protect that from de-climate change?
PRIME MINISTER SOPOAGA: Because I appreciated the discussion that took place then of course in this type of setting you- we come to try to move towards convergence of thinking of ideas. I'm grateful that we had a discussion with Prime Minister Morrison before we started the retreat. In fact some ideas were already exchanged between Australia and leaders and countries. So a bit, the understanding basically was to focus more on the impacts of people and on families on the future of young people from the impacts of climate change. And I'm glad that there must be I think how to, for the leaders to appreciate each other's stance and allows us to make those very concrete decisions that are now reflected in the communique. It’s a matter for this community to continue to always focus on the common good rather than on the device you mentioned I think it is useful that way for us to project, production of the forum coming together and try to find common ground and work on both this.
JOURNALIST: Kelly from the Marshall Islands Journal. You have underlined that these are very [inaudible] so the language that you use regarding nuclear contaminants, could that have been stronger and if so what is your message to people at home who have been told for half a century that they can’t live on their land and that now they cannot [inaudible] on their motherland?
PRIME MINISTER SOPOAGA: I fully appreciate the sentiments and I strongly support a necessity and urgency for addressing what is already coming out, happening and impacting on our people in the Pacific. And of course we at least hope very, very strongly against those leakage of nuclear waste in the Pacific and the need to address them as urgently as possible. Beyond that there is very strong concern about contamination of the food chain resulting from this leakage and therefore the leaders aspired to call on those who are responsible to clean this waste and do something about it urgently. We the leaders doing that here in Funafuti. 35 years ago agreed to set the Treaty of Rarotonga. The South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone. This region. It was supposed to be nuclear free under that nuclear free zone treatment which is an international document anyway. And everybody I think should respect that comments are made by their leaders including some 35 years ago. Therefore there is also a need for all countries I think the idea commitments for countries to sign on and ratify does it keep it to, under comprehensive test of nuclear weapons in the world. And I think the intervention by the executive secretary here to the leaders was very good. Yes, and I'm glad it went in to the communique. You know we- I certainly hope we can take that matter further for proper addressing.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Jackson Williams from Sky News, last night you used very strong language saying you wished you could do more or achieved more for your peoples, you’ve also singled out Australia this morning, you’ve really toned down your language, has your Australian counterpart tried to bring you into line?
PRIME MINISTER SOPOAGA: That's the expectation on Tuvalu point of view of course we expect, and I have to be frank, we had very, very open discussion with the Prime Minister of Australia in the leaders’ meeting yesterday of course I cannot disclose all what was discussed and that is the nature of negotiations. The nature of leadership. But we have stressed very strongly during our exchange between me and Scott. You are concerned about your saving your economies maybe all your situation in Australia. I'm concerned about saving my people in Tuvalu and likewise the leaders of other smaller countries. That was the tone of the discussion. Please though don't expect them to be calm and you know we found out more of that. But that sort of atmosphere it was never that we were exchanging flowery language and not swearing, but of course we were all expressing the concerns of leaders. And was very happy with the exchange. It was frank, Prime Minister Morrison of course stated his position and I stated my positions and other leaders, we need to save these people. The Prime Minister of Tonga actually cried in the retreat did you know that? The leader of Tonga actually shed tears in front of the leaders of the nation about returning to the presentation from the two young warriors of climate change. The other- when they started this week. So that is the atmosphere. It was done in an open, honest, consideration of many other issues. Prime Minister Morrison will tell you very well, but that's the situation. Families come together, of course they argue, there are differences of course. They accuse and criticise but at the end of the day we have to maintain the canoe to be taking the approach, the canoe can save the people and every focus will be on the Commonwealth. Everybody should move together in the spirit of the forum. I think the time it’s no use to start, to a blaming game and I think also the media has a role to harness these situations we can move together rather than standing by accusing each other and pointing fingers at each other.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] Prime Minister [inaudible] what measures do you [inaudible] regionally to enhance women’s leadership?
PRIME MINISTER SOPOAGA: I think that is an issue that is well accepted here in Tuvalu. There was discussion of that this matter recently but now the women are doing much better than the men. If you’ve seen here in Tuvalu, where the women’s vote, only one lady is there in Parliament but in other institutions of government there is very strong visibility and presence of women and also in the civil service of Tuvalu, very small, women are dominating and I'm very, very proud of what the women are doing and culturally what we’ve done was done by the women. Anyway.
PRIME MINISTER MORRISON: Just a simple statement, in Australia in my own cabinet we have the largest number of women in my cabinet that we’ve had in our history, and proportion of women in our parliament rises each election I'm pleased that my own party it rose at the last election. From 20 per cent to 25 per cent but we’ve still got a long way to go. And there need to be measures in place to support that. And that’s the position right across the Pacific. We want to see a greater participation of women in the political process. A greater participation of women in parliaments, as it is so often the case, that the leadership of women throughout the region who take leadership positions and the more that occurs the better for the Pacific and [inaudible].
JOURNALIST: Foreign Minister Regenvanu, in the communique there is a commitment to address the issue of human rights in West Papua as next year's forum host, do you think this will be on the agenda? And do you think that the statement this year goes far enough to address the rights of the people in West Papua?
FOREIGN MINISTER REGENVANU: I think the forum leaders were very clear this year that and as a result of the uh worsening situation, just in the last year. For West Papua. And I think the response by the leaders was very clear and measured. The resolution was to allow to visit the territory and provide an honest and frank account of what's happening to the leaders of the next meeting and I think that's a very positive step forward. This is an issue which has been on the forum’s agenda for many years and in the last few years the resolution has been about constructive engagement, opening constructive engagement with Indonesia on the issue. And I think the leaders recognize that without opening constructive engagement, had not necessarily achieved the improvements in human rights that were desired. So I think the situation in [inaudible] over the past year has caused the leaders to elevate the tone of the resolution. . I think it's a very good and well timed resolution that will achieve results and I’m looking forward to the forum [inaudible] and all countries implementing the resolution in terms of making sure that all parties cooperate on the action required.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister Sopoaga, on the smaller island states made this decision once the leaders have endorsed a summary of their decision they’re also directing the secretariat to institute a process of tabling the Small Island States- Small Island States leader’s decision at the leaders meeting, would you care to clarify what that means? That you’re directing the forum secretariat on the process of the tabling of that report. Given I suppose we know you came under the declaration-
PRIME MINISTER SOPOAGA: [Inaudible] Yes indeed. It is the wish of the leaders to seek clarity on the process the SIS is the grouping of the forum that makes up the – those with special situation, unique because of their smallness, because of their isolation and vulnerabilities. But the criteria and the process in which this group sub-grouping of the forum is working, is rather, ambiguous, unclear. There are areas where we need to provide clarity so that their issues and the management of the issues are properly handled within the process of the larger Pacific Islands Forum. So that is where the call is coming from, is simply seeking more clarity and procedural clarity and therefore the secretariat of forum secretary has been tasked to provide this perhaps in the next meeting. It has nothing to do with me no. Questioning would be the medium necessity for such a sub-group simply to provide procedural clarity on the process.
JOURNALIST : Activity starts [inaudible] China and the United States today at the Forum, Mr Morrison, how do you see strategic competition in the region and do you think island states sovereignty is at all at risk from the behaviour of the big actors?
PRIME MINISTER MORRISON: Well I’d say this, one of the strengths of the Pacific Island Forum is it works together to protect and enhance the independence and sovereignty of all the pacific island nation states and all Pacific states. This is one of the key things that I think binds all these nations together, proud peoples with a very ancient way of life, and to be able to preserve that way of life to preserve their economic security and sovereignty, to preserve their fisheries, to preserve their environment, to protect it both now and in the future. These are the cooperative discussions that take place here and I must say that the strategic competition you referred to was absent in the discussions yesterday completely, that wasn’t the context for any discussions this was a family getting together and talking about the things that they’re dealing with most practically and so that has been the tenor and tone of these discussions and so Australia will always be working with partners to ensure that they can protect their independence, their sovereignty, in their region.
