23-05-2025
Australia's foreign minister wraps up Pacific tour
Over the past week, Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong has been on a three-nation Pacific tour visiting Fiji, Tonga, and Vanuatu.
Her trip comes just two weeks after the Australian federal election, which saw the Labor party sweep back into power for a second back-to-back term.
As part of her visits, Senator Wong has re-emphasised Australia's commitment to climate action in Fiji, funding health reform in Tonga and reviving a bilateral partnership with Vanuatu.
Dr Tess Newton Cain, adjunct Associate Professor at the Griffith Asia Institute, said there's no denying the amount of work that's gone into building relations with the Pacific, including listening to regional concerns.
'I think it's a process, not a product. You can't kind of tick he box and say, "Okay, we've done the listening now," said Dr Cain.
She said the key now is whether the Australian government can sustain the pace it set in the first term.
Dr Newton Cain also expects the face representing Australia in the region to change, with Assistant Minister Matt Thistlethwaite taking up a more prominent role.
'Given everything else that's going on in the world, we may not see uh Senator Wong in the region very often.'
'So, it's good for him (Assistant Minister Thistlethwaite) to get a chance to get his feet on the ground and meet some of the people that he's going to be dealing with,' said Dr Newton Cain.
