00:00 Symbolisms at play here.
00:03 Perhaps unsurprisingly, Pacific leaders being taken to a very low-lying Pacific island indeed,
00:09 Aititaki.
00:10 It does have one small part of the island that rears up into a hill, but much of it
00:14 is basically an atoll at very, very low levels.
00:17 It's also spectacularly beautiful, a luminous blue lagoon, waving palm trees.
00:22 It's been described as almost a cliche of a tropical paradise.
00:25 But there is a serious intent here, and that is to show exactly what's at risk with climate
00:30 change.
00:31 Even a modest increase in sea level rise would put much of Aititaki underwater.
00:35 And that's what people in Pacific islands, and in particular here in Cook Islands, want
00:40 to highlight to Anthony Albanese and all the other Pacific leaders who well know the risks
00:45 posed by climate change over the coming years and decades.
00:48 This is always difficult terrain for Pacific island nations, particularly because they
00:53 do remain dependent on Australia for foreign aid and development help, not least development
00:59 spending that allows them to basically deal with some of the impacts of climate change.
01:04 And so directly confronting Australia can be difficult.
01:08 Pacific nations are also keen to give credit to the Labor government, even though it's
01:12 now halfway into its life, for taking a more ambitious approach than the previous coalition
01:17 government.
01:18 All of that said, there's still a gap between what Pacific island nations want and what
01:22 Australia is willing to do.
01:24 The fact that Australia continues to expand new fossil fuel projects frustrates many Pacific
01:29 island nations, even if they don't necessarily like to berate Australia in public for taking
01:34 that stance or taking that step.
01:37 So it's always a bit of a delicate dance for Pacific leaders.
01:39 And when we spoke earlier to the Deputy Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, John Rosso,
01:43 he perhaps performed a similarly delicate dance, praising Australia's efforts on climate,
01:48 whilst also stressing that all nations, including Australia, need to do more to lift their ambition
01:54 to stave off disaster.
01:56 Let's take a listen to what he had to say.
01:59 Australia continues to be an important development partner for us, and they are pursuing the
02:05 climate change agenda.
02:07 But it's not on Australia.
02:11 It's every first world country in the world needs to do more for climate change.
02:17 They need to do more for climate change, allow debt for nature swaps for smaller Pacific
02:24 island countries, easier accessibility to financing for smaller Pacific island nations,
02:31 and a lot more to be done now and not down the track.
02:36 One that is interesting is a push from some Pacific island nations to review or revitalise
02:41 the Treaty of Rarotonga.
02:43 Now that's being done with one eye on a few things that's happening, including Japan's
02:48 release of nuclear waste water or treated nuclear water into the Pacific, as well as
02:54 continuing problems about remediation in the wake of nuclear testing, and to some degree
02:59 Australia's push for nuclear-powered submarines, something that some in the Pacific remain
03:03 uneasy about.
03:04 Now some Pacific leaders say given all of that, it's time to look at the Rarotonga Treaty,
03:09 the Pacific's nuclear-free treaty, to see whether it's fit for purpose.
03:13 But perhaps unsurprisingly, Australia is not enthusiastic about that.
03:17 Let's take a listen to what the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had to say when he was asked
03:22 whether Rarotonga needed a refresh.
03:25 We support the Treaty of Rarotonga.
03:27 It is a good document.
03:30 It has stood the test of time.
03:33 All of the arrangements that were put in place have been consistent with that.
03:38 Points of common ground, of course, between Australia and the Pacific, but points of disagreement
03:42 and tension as well.
03:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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