 Right, ABC hasn't arrived yet Tom. What do you want me to do? Do you want us to wait a couple minutes? Yeah, I'll go and say hello to Louie Have we got everybody now? No This one here. So which one is ABC? This man Thomas with his hand. That's the camera. Okay You're the tripod you're a tall tripod That's impressive Okay, everyone right? Okay, thank you very much for coming Well, I was sworn in on Monday of this week and Obviously the Prime Minister and I attended the Quad meeting in Tokyo Left we left immediately after the swearing in got back to Australia and I came straight to Fiji and I wanted to come here because it was important to underline and Emphasize the importance of our for valet partnership the importance of the Pacific family and to underscore That for the new government our relationship with this region and your relationship with us matters It is a new government in Australia And our message the Pacific is clear We're listening and we've heard you and one of the Areas in which the new government is determined to make a difference is on climate I'm very pleased that the so many Australians voted for stronger action on climate and I recognize That that has been something Fiji and other Pacific Island nations have been saying for many years I remember when I was Minister for climate change between 2007 and 2010 That the voices of the Pacific was was so strong and so authentic It spoke with so much power because for you climate change isn't abstract. It's not a political argument It's real So we have put on the table as the new government a much stronger policy on climate change Not only the net zero emissions by 2050, but a strong 2030 target of 43% reduction Which will lead to the majority of Australia's energy in its electricity grid being Renewables about 82% renewables by the end of this decade. So that's a good thing We've also put a range of other policies on the table For the Pacific which are about recognizing That we we want to build stronger relationships stronger links. So reforms to the Pacific Labor mobility schemes Additional infrastructure funding as well as additional ODA. So these are all part of our suite of policies But which we can talk through in detail with governments of the region in terms of implementing them But on what is at the heart of this is a strong desire To to play our part in the Pacific family and to build stronger relationships So I'm happy to take questions now on the issues that people want to me to address And the foreign policy of Australia How you work with specifically the government if you can you tell us about some of the changes if any to the way Your administration is going to work with the Pigeon government, some of the caucus areas that you're going to do for relying on, but also more importantly What was the result of your bilaterals with the Prime Minister and the UK as an example? Oh, well, look, I do want to say in terms of the program first can I talk about that? I actually haven't met the Prime Minister yet. I think I'm doing that later today I met with the Attorney-General Obviously, I met with Secretary-General Pooner and I met with some Pacific workers this morning I think it was this morning. Everything's glaring into one and talk to them about The opportunities that they have under the current scheme, but also how we might build on them So you talk about what are the differences? Look a lot of a lot of the the ballast in the relationship is bipartisan and A lot of the you know I came to the Pacific a number of times with Julie Bishop when she was in when they were in government And one of the reasons I said to her we should do this together is because I do believe in bipartisanship wherever you can and That we could say together as the minister and the shadow Minister Regardless of who's in government, you know our relationship Australia's relationship with your nation matters But there are some differences And that the two ones that I would go to a climate and also the Pacific scheme So we obviously want to do more with the Pacific Labor schemes We want people to be able to bring their families with the longer term visa We have a Pacific engagement visa which would allow permanent residency that we want to put in place and of course on climate Regrettably the previous government for nine years. We have a lost decade on climate action. We're determined to make up for it Anyone else Hello It's a certain that the longer term visa, which I think is up to four years and look this comes out of Actually our engagement with workers on the the current program that people were saying There were a lot of benefits for them, but it was pretty hard to leave their family for that long So as part of our announcement, we said we would allow people on the longer visa to bring their families We've obviously got to work through the details of that Including with the providers and with your government, but we will do that. I think it's a good idea Yes Ultimately, you know the the unity of the Pacific Island forum is is in the hands of Pacific Island forum members and To find a way through To that unity is I would I think benefit the forum and all of its members. I think it would benefit The region particularly at a time where there are a lot of challenges COVID climate Obviously, you know the strategic circumstances in which we live in this world So I would encourage forum members to work together to find a path to unity Certainly, you know, it's not for me to tell people what to do. It's a it's a decision for the Pacific Island forum members But we we would encourage a path to unity and secretary general Puna and I spoke about that No, I was very keen to Come to the Pacific as soon as I became foreign minister And this is my first bilateral visit. I was a few days late because I had to go to Tokyo But you'll forgive that I'm sure. So this was always in the plan and not reactive to the announcement. I mean, we've been look I Don't know how much you watch Australian elections. You probably don't it's not that interesting is it but We did a lot of work on Pacific policy and We we we thought when we did it we'd have an announcement But you know, it would probably get picked up here and in the Pacific press But it became quite a big part of our foreign policy during the election we understand how important this is and we understand that Australia has more to do and we wanted to Put out there the things that we wanted to do and one of the things I wanted to do was to have a Pacific trip is my first trip and Fiji is a very important partner. You know, we have a Vivaldi partnership Excuse me and You know the chair of the PIF so we thought it was appropriate Madam, there's been some criticism of previous Australian administrations The acquisition is it relaxed some of their stance on Democracy and human rights in order to keep Chinese influence away From Fiji in particular. Is this what is your reaction to this? What is your stance? Well, I'm not sure what you're referring to I just say as a general principle. Obviously we have values They define who we are. They are universal principles that Australia will always assert that we also recognize You know, it's not for us to tell every country how to behave. We recognize that we're not perfect. So, you know our view is you Try to adhere to universal principles and you also try and work respectfully with other nations Yeah, look, it's for Pacific nations to make their own decisions about You know who they want to partner with and in which in which areas and we respect that We want to be a partner of choice. We want to demonstrate to to your nation and other nations of the region that we Are a partner who can be trusted who can be reliable and historically we have been I think you've seen a lot of Australian development assistance We want to work with you on your priorities We want to work together as part of the Pacific family Obviously, we've expressed our concerns publicly about the security agreement between Solomon Islands and China And the reason we have is we think there are as do other Pacific nations. We think there are consequences We think that it's important that The security the region be determined by the region And historically that has been the case and we think that's a good thing You mentioned last night that the region is based on the triple threat you mentioned COVID climate and strategic context We'll be able to clarify Give specific examples. I think we all know that that the world is changed that You know glow. There's a lot more strategic competition. There's a lot more Disruption of international norms the the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a demonstration of that And you know, we all have to find our way through that and we hope to find our way through that with you Did you also Madam, it was highlighted for 3000 Pacific Islanders to be granted the permanent residence Pacific engagement visa Yes, so that is one of the policies we we announced during the election campaign It's modeled actually on the New Zealand visa, which I think people would be familiar with We've got to work through with our department and with your governments How that will work how to make sure it we maximize the positive benefit and manage any of the downsides So we'll do that and I'll make those announcements in due course Madam, can you talk to us about some of your agricultural exports market access for some If you're not a cultural exports, which our government has been asking for for a couple of years Where is that in your list of? Well, well, I can tell you that I think the cover Export issue has been resolved. I understand. So that's a good thing because when I was last Engaging with your government in opposition. That was an issue which was raised with me. So I'm pleased. That's the case, but look Fiji will be having its own elections Sometime before what is it the 9th of January or something like that? It's still in government support initiative that it has announced Will that remain in check even if the government, the Fijian government changes? The the government of Fiji is a matter for the people of Fiji We we yeah, we obviously are I'll be very pleased to meet with the parliament minister later And he's obviously been a great friend of australis, but ultimately we deal with your nation Did anyone else No, we haven't we haven't been that hasn't been sought as far as I'm aware, but obviously we You know, we're always happy to assist if they wish wish us to Yeah Australian academics have said Which ones this is this is always interesting when people start a question with academics Well, I can tell you I was born in Malaysia and my grandmother was a servant to the British So I have a very very personal understanding of what you're talking about and I I hope I will not Speak to you in that way Thank you You We walk