Crisis in New Caledonia to dominate talks at leaders retreat

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Australian Prime Minister is in the northern Tongan island of Vava'u for a private retreat with pacific leaders as the pacific islands forum rolls on.

Transcript

00:00The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is in the northern Tongan island of Vavao, where

00:08he's meeting with other Pacific leaders for the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Retreat.

00:13This is an opportunity for leaders to have private discussions in the company of only

00:17one senior official, typically.

00:20And on the top of the list will be some of the most sensitive and complex issues that

00:24the Pacific is facing, in particular the crisis in New Caledonia.

00:29The government of New Caledonia and the government of France, which retains control over the

00:34territory, have been at loggerheads for quite some time over a planned visit by a high-level

00:40Pacific mission in the wake of rioting that rocked the territory earlier this year.

00:45The Pacific wants to mediate, but France is not convinced that that's a good idea.

00:50And the trip collapsed a couple of weeks ago because of disagreements between France and

00:55the government of New Caledonia over who should ultimately have control of the mission.

01:00Now the two sides are very close to a compromise.

01:03The French ambassador announcing this morning that terms of reference had now been agreed

01:08on for the Pacific leaders at the retreat to give a final sign-off on.

01:12If that happens, it's a major step forward on a crisis that has caused enormous angst

01:18and anxiety throughout the Pacific.

01:20The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, for his part, he said that he believed the Pacific

01:24did have a role in the crisis and could play a role to help bring peace.

01:30Of course the Pacific can play a role and is playing a role.

01:34And I met with the President Mapao yesterday.

01:40It was one of the bilateral meetings that I had.

01:42It was a really constructive meeting.

01:45He wants to see peace in New Caledonia.

01:50He was obviously like others, but particularly the President, of course, like other people

01:56in New Caledonia, would have been distressed by the violence that we saw, the disruption

02:02that we saw in recent months.

02:05And he spoke really positively about calm returning.

02:09There will be the delegation of four people from the PIF, from the Pacific Island Forum,

02:19to New Caledonia.

02:21And I'd certainly hope that it can play a constructive role.

02:25We all want to see peace in the region.

02:28However, Mr Albanese has also this morning faced questions about yesterday's landmark

02:33Pacific Policing Initiative.

02:35The new plan that will see huge amounts of Australian taxpayers' money, $400 million,

02:40ploughed into an ambitious plan that would lift policing capability throughout the region,

02:45establishing a new training facility in Brisbane.

02:48New centres of excellence across the Pacific, and a standing police force that would be

02:52able to rotate throughout the region to deal with local crises.

02:57Mr Albanese was caught on a hot mic, a recording that was made by a New Zealand journalist

03:02joking with Kurt Campbell, the US Deputy Secretary of State, about quote, going halvesies on

03:09the entire initiative.

03:10In other words, splitting the cost.

03:13He also heard from Kurt Campbell that the US was pursuing a similar initiative before

03:18Kevin Rudd, the Australian ambassador in Washington, dissuaded the administration from doing so.

03:24Mr Albanese was pressed about what the details of that US plan was.

03:28He responded quite forcefully by saying that it was unethical for the journalist to record

03:34him in this way, and saying that the two men were simply having a joke.

03:39No.

03:41The video is what it is.

03:43Someone, you know, it's up to them to, whoever did that, to think about their own ethics

03:50when it comes to journalism.

03:52It was a private conversation.

03:56It was a jovial conversation and a friendly one.

04:00You know, it is what it is.

04:03People try and read something into it, you must be pretty bored, frankly.

04:09You must be pretty bored.

04:12Journalists tend to identify themselves, professionals, I hope that you do.

04:16Mr Albanese will return from Vavao to Tongatapu and Nukulofa today.

04:21After that, he'll head straight back to Australia.

04:23Many other Pacific leaders, however, will remain on Vavao for at least another half

04:28day or so before returning to Nukulofa tomorrow.

04:32That's when they're expected to issue their final leaders communique, which will give

04:36everyone watching this entire meeting very closely an idea of what the Pacific thinks

04:41about some of the critical issues that they're facing today, from New Caledonia to regional

04:46security, the policing pact, but also a whole lot of other complicated issues, including

04:52strategic competition, deep sea mining, and most importantly for the Pacific, what can

04:57be done to try and help them withstand the devastating impacts of climate change.

05:06For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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