00:01It's a massive problem, Joe, and what's really alarmed Pacific leaders is that it seems to
00:06be getting much, much worse. We've seen a real surge, not just in the number of vessels
00:11that have been spotted across the region, but also just in the sheer quantities of drugs
00:16that have been seized. So, for example, the government believes around 17 tonnes of illegal
00:21narcotics have been seized in the first eight or so months of 2026 alone. That's compared
00:26to just over five tonnes in 2025. So it's a huge jump. And of course, we don't really
00:33have a clear idea of how much is making it through unimpeded to Australia, although it's
00:38assumed that the quantities are pretty vast. So this is a problem. And what's really happening
00:42now that's really insidious is that increasingly the Pacific isn't just a weigh station on the
00:47way to Australia. Increasingly, narcotics smuggling syndicates are actually treating it as a minor
00:51market and their tentacles are now really coming into some of these specific communities. So
00:56we're seeing, for example, much more serious health problems like the HIV crisis in Fiji,
01:01as well as corruption in Pacific police forces and criminality. So Australia is moving with
01:07Pacific nations to try and do something about it. In particular, we've got this Wonga Moana
01:12initiative that's been endorsed by Pacific leaders today. As part of that, Australia is going to tip
01:17some $600 million over the next five or 10 years into increased aerial surveillance, but also
01:22basically, you know, allowing and encouraging and funding training that allows Pacific maritime
01:29centres and authorities across the Pacific to share data. That's, of course, if they opt into this
01:34program, compare notes and then use that to try and get a better sense of exactly where these illegal
01:40shipments might be coming. Now, of course, the reality, Joe, is that this illegal trade is being fed by
01:45Australia and New Zealand's insatiable appetite for drugs. So Australia really does have a responsibility
01:51to help here. Let's take a listen to the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, talking about this
01:56initiative earlier today.
01:58Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister, Prime Minister, Prime Minister, Prime Minister,
01:59We need to, as well, ensure that there's greater cooperation between our border services,
02:06that exchange of information and intelligence that is important,
02:09and more work to stop drugs at their source, which, of course, is coming from South America and Central
02:19America in particular through the Pacific to Australia and New Zealand. It is very much in Australia's
02:27interest to work with our Pacific partners to deal with these illicit crime issues and very important for
02:35our population.
02:38And Stephen, how prominent an issue is climate change at the forum? And has Australia's record on climate change come
02:46under scrutiny?
02:49It has, Joe, at least around the margins of the Pacific Islands Forum. There was a pretty grim UN report
02:55that was launched today that basically confirms what we already knew, which is that the world is very much on
03:00track within the next decade to overshoot that 1.5 degree increase in temperature.
03:05That's at the heart of the Paris Agreement. And not only that, that it could well easily get up to
03:10about 1.8 degrees. And that's really the best case scenario. That's if countries actually make an effort to implement
03:17their existing climate targets. And there's no guarantee of that happening.
03:21So the Pacific call today has been for all major polluters and all fuel exporters to urgently make the transition
03:28to actually accelerate the transition underway. And unsurprisingly, Australia's record has come under a bit of scrutiny.
03:34Ralph Reganvanu, who's a very well known Pacific climate advocate and Vanuatu's climate change minister. He's actually leading the delegation
03:41from Vanuatu here at the PIF leaders meeting. He was asked at a press conference this afternoon whether Australia was
03:48doing enough. And his answer was no, it's not doing enough.
03:50At the very least, he said Australia needs to stop new coal and gas exports and new coal and gas
03:57projects if the world is to have a chance of keeping under 1.5 or rather pulling it back under
04:031.5 in the future.
04:04So a pretty strong message from the Pacific, one they have delivered before, even if most of the time leaders
04:09prefer not to say this directly and often don't raise it in some instances privately with Australia, but a pretty
04:16clear message from one of the Pacific's most forceful advocates on climate.
04:19So a pretty strong message from the Pacific's most of the Pacific's most of the Pacific Pacific Pacific Pacific Pacific
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