00:01The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spoken to a crowd of a few thousand people here in
00:07Honiara's National Stadium as Solomon Islands celebrates its independence. The Prime Minister
00:13taking the opportunity to pay tribute to the people of Solomon Islands who've had to deal
00:18with an awful lot over almost five decades and which still struggle with difficult problems
00:24around development and at times security. The Prime Minister earlier met with Matthew Wale,
00:30Solomon Islands Prime Minister. Just a few weeks ago Mr Wale was in Canberra and the two countries
00:36agreed to begin negotiations on a bilateral treaty. Just the latest in a string of agreements that this
00:42government is sewing together as it tries to buttress Australia's strategic position and make
00:48sure that Beijing doesn't get a military foothold in the region. Mr Albanese said he'd like the
00:54negotiations to be completed by the end of the year, setting an ambitious timetable for bureaucrats
01:00on both sides. But clearly the government spots an opportunity with Mr Wale in power and hopes after
01:07many years of China making serious advances it will be able to embed its strategic position, put a limit
01:13on China's security ambitions here in Solomon Islands and put the relationship on a more stable
01:20footing. The two leaders almost certainly also discussed China's recent ballistic missile test that
01:27occurred just yesterday in the Pacific Ocean. The ballistic missile went over at least three
01:33Pacific nations exclusive economic zones and seems to have landed somewhere near the exclusive economic
01:39zone of Tuvalu. The test has already stirred quiet unease among some Pacific officials but as of yet
01:46no Pacific leaders have come out to condemn it. In contrast Anthony Albanese's team including the
01:52Foreign Minister Penny Wong and the Defence Minister Richard Miles have been on the front foot saying that
01:57the test is destabilizing. Quietly officials say it's a powerful illustration of the threat that they
02:04believe Chinese military might poses to the region. For its part Solomon Islands has a tightrope to walk. It
02:11cannot afford to put China too badly offside. The relationship is now simply too important on too
02:17many fronts. The stadium that I'm standing in right now was provided to the former government by the
02:23government of China not long after it made the switch of diplomatic recognition from Taiwan. So China has deep
02:30equities here too and Australia is conscious that while it wants to push to get this treaty done
02:36quickly it cannot push too hard lest it put Mr Wale's opponents in a stronger position and the Prime
02:43Minister finds himself toppled in the sometimes unpredictable vortex of Melanesian politics. Plenty for
02:50the Prime Minister to deal with and to chew on as he grapples with changing and difficult strategic
02:55circumstances. No country perhaps exemplifies some of the pushes and pulls of that than Solomon Islands here in Honiara.
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