Australia will supply Fiji with an extra 14 Bushmaster military vehicles and fast-track visa applications for visitors from the Pacific nation.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese welcomed Fijian counterpart Sitiveni Rabuka to Canberra on Wednesday with a marching band flourish and multi-cannon salute at Parliament House forecourt.
The two leaders signed a renewed and elevated Vuvale Partnership – the Pacific word for “family” – aimed at tackling climate change and strengthening the economic and trade partnership.
Rabuka also reaffirmed Fiji’s commitment to traditional partners such as Australia in light of concerns about China signing security and policing pacts with Pacific island nations.
He said he preferred to work with countries with similar democratic systems as tensions heighten between the US and China.
“Some people call it rivalry, some people call it one-upmanship, whatever it is we’re more comfortable dealing with traditional friends,” he said in a joint press conference following his bilateral meeting with Albanese.
“Our democracies are the same brand of democracy,” he said, talking up similar parliamentary, justice and policing systems inherited from British law.
But Suva will avoid choosing sides between the US and China “so that we do not appear to be aggressive in our relationship with our neighbours and also with our friends”, Rabuka said.
In support of Fiji’s recent steps to launch a new, more secure, ePassport, the prime ministers agreed Fiji would be provided with early access to new mobile technologies to support a more streamlined visa application service.
With Australia’s support, Fiji National University will provide at least 70 new aviation engineering scholarships between 2024 and 2028 for women and men from five Pacific island countries.
At a time of rising global tensions, the leaders also discussed Rabuka’s “zone of peace” approach for the Pacific that will be officially presented to regional leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in the Cook Islands in November.
Albanese confirmed Australia would meet Fiji’s request for the purchase of 14 Bushmaster vehicles for international peacekeeping operations.
“Both of us agree that Pacific unity is central to the relationship in our region and Fiji plays a critical leadership role,” he said.
The leaders also agreed to finalise a cybersecurity memorandum of understanding.
Rabuka said Pacific leaders were realistic about their demands to have larger polluters curb coal and gas use as their nations bear the direct brunt of climate change.
Leaders have called for more ambitious emissions reduction targets, but the Fijian prime minister said his nation had also benefited from donations and aid from countries like Australia that had their economies boosted by fossil fuels.
“We do not want them to stop doing what they’re doing, we want them to turn down (fossil fuels),” he said.
“You don’t just stop everything, it’s got to be sustainable.”
Meanwhile, thousands of Pacific islanders will be offered a path to Australian life after a government effort to boost regional employment and address shortages was given the green light.
Immigration minister Andrew Giles secured the votes of the Greens to have the Pacific visa scheme legislation pass the senate after agreeing to a review of the significant costs threshold in a bid to reduce discrimination.
The cost threshold is a mechanism to give the government the power to reject temporary visa applicants if they have a health condition that will be “a significant cost to the Australian community” to treat or support the illness or disability.
Foreign affairs minister Penny Wong said it would boost cultural, business and educational exchange within the Pacific region.
“This will grow the Pacific diaspora in Australia and will further strengthen our people-to-people connections across the Pacific family,” Wong told parliament.
“This visa will ensure more of our closest neighbours can call Australia home.”
Greens immigration spokesman Nick McKim said the migration system needed to be fair and inclusive.
“We will continue to stand up for the rights of everyone, no matter where they come from, or their disability,” he said.
“The government needs to respond to this review by ensuring that no child born in Australia to temporary visa holders is deported by the use of the significant cost threshold.”
The review will be led by the Department of Home Affairs chief medical officer.
The opposition has refused to support the Pacific visa scheme due to its “lottery” system.
However, this process is used in New Zealand and will reduce processing times and costs, the government says.
The scheme will allocate 3000 visas to Pacific islanders each year through a ballot process across countries. Those selected will then be able to apply for permanent residency.
To be granted a visa, applicants will still need to meet eligibility criteria, including a job offer, health and character requirements.
Addressing questions over why Pacific Australia Labour Mobility workers already in Australia were not part of the visa scheme, Wong said it would “pull the rug out” from Pacific partners who had signed up to it.
“It would (also) increase brain drain and skew the spread of engagement visa holders to countries that participated in PALM instead of the broader Pacific family,” she said.
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