Pacific ties in focus as Marles, Wong head to region for key talks

Australia’s neighbourly relations are in the spotlight as its top politicians head to the Pacific.

Defence Minister Richard Marles, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Pacific Island Affairs Minister Pat Conroy will all travel to the region in the coming days as Australia attempts to strengthen its relationship with nearby nations.

Papua New Guinea will be the first stop on Mr Marles’ itinerary, where he will meet with his counterpart, Prime Minister James Marape, and his deputy John Rosso.

They will discuss the growing integration between both nations’ defence forces and progress towards a bilateral defence treaty, which was announced in February.

He will then join his two colleagues in Vanuatu where all three will hold a meeting with Prime Minister Jotham Napat and other senior ministers before heading to Mr Napat’s home island Tanna to continue talks about the Nakamal Agreement.

The development pact has been in the works for some months and will take in infrastructure planning, economic development and climate planning.

Finally, Senator Wong will travel to Fiji on Thursday to attend a meeting of foreign ministers at the Pacific Islands Forum, where she is expected to champion strengthened regional unity.

“Australia deeply values our relationships with our Pacific family as we work together to strengthen ties and deepen security partnerships,” Mr Marles said.

The Pacific has become increasingly important as tensions simmer between China - Australia’s biggest trading partner - and the US, one of the nation’s most important allies.

US official Elbridge Colby had been pushing Australia to clarify whether it would commit troops to potential conflict with China over Taiwan, while he leads a review into the trilateral AUKUS nuclear submarine deal between the US, Australia and the UK.

In a conference in March, Mr Marles said Australia could not rely solely on the US to counter China’s military strength in the Indo-Pacific.