Anthony Albanese left pink-faced after awkward wardrobe mix-up at Pacific Island Forum

It was a case of not so pretty in pink as Anthony Albanese was left red-faced after a major wardrobe mix-up at the Pacific Islands Forum in the Solomon Islands.

The Prime Minister strode out to greet other world leaders during the conference and very quickly realised he had donned the wrong shirt for the meeting.

Sitting at the table in Honiara on Wednesday evening, Mr Albanese stood out like a beacon in his pink hawaiian-style island shirt while his cohorts all wore the same navy blue attire.

As the press conference the obvious gaff became an instant distraction for those gathered and as the PM began to turn a shade resembling his shirt’s colour he made the agonising choice to leave for an unscheduled change.

Moments later he returned in the correct shirt, much to the enjoyment of Mark Brown, the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands.

“Mr Albanese made some mistakes yesterday on his shirt selection so I was just reminding him of it,’ said NZ PM Christopher Luxon.

During the press conference Mr Luxon was also asked if Mr Albanese’s decision proved Australia was “the big dog” at the meeting and if they thought “they can do whatever they want”.

“No, I think he just forgot the instructions to be honest, but you know, you’ve got to reiterate quite a lot to the Australians what they need to be doing and the rules sometimes,” Mr Luxon qipped.

Leaders were locked in talks for all of Wednesday, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a late arrival to the summit after a stop in Vanuatu.

The side trip proved a fizzer for the Nakamal agreement security deal, which is yet to be finalised, although Australia did progress talks with Fiji to “upgrade” the relationship and begin negotiations on a new bilateral security treaty.

The official ratification of the Pacific Resilience Facility treaty was a hard-fought win for advocates who have spent 10 years trying to get the regional climate fund off the ground.

Australia has already funnelled $100 million into the fund, which was set up to make it easier for Pacific communities vulnerable to sea level rise, cyclones and other climate impacts to access small sums of money for adaptation programs.

Leaders also threw their support behind the Australia-Pacific attempt to co-host global climate talks, keeping pressure on a competing bid from Turkey.

Mr Albanese said he and his counterparts were determined to bring the 2026 Conference of the Parties (COP31) summit to the climate-vulnerable region.

“Countries like Tuvalu and Kiribati, their very existence is threatened by climate change,” he said.

“And it’s appropriate, given particularly the context of where the last few COPs have been held, that it be held in our region.”

with AAP.