The new Solomon Islands prime minister has made a clear pivot towards Australia, agreeing to kickstart negotiations on a comprehensive treaty with Canberra and promising to “review” the Pacific nation’s contentious security agreement with China.
Matthew Wale declared he wanted to “reset” the relationship with Australia after sitting down for talks with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in parliament house.
Solomon Islands had been on the front line of strategic competition between Australia and China in the Pacific ever since it signed a sweeping pact with China in 2022.
Mr Wale had been a fierce critic of that pact when it was signed, but has softened his tone in recent years.
Anthony Alabanese says he wants Australia to be the security partner of choice in the Pacific. (ABC News: Adam Kennedy )
He told journalists in Canberra he would “review” the agreement now he was in power, although it was not clear how formal or informal that process would be.
“We are going to be reviewing [it] as we are reviewing other security agreements that we have with many other countries,” he said.
When asked whether he would stick by his pledge to make the agreement public, he made the extraordinary admission that he was not even able to get a copy until just before he left, more than two weeks since taking the top job.
“I’ve had to remove certain people from key positions. I haven’t been afforded a copy, even, of that agreement until a day before I left, so I haven’t had a good look at it,” he said.
Mr Wale said he had been “praying and fasting” about what to do with the security agreement but could not make it public immediately because it had a non-disclosure pact within it.
“I’ve had a look at it, I’ll be honest with you, but I haven’t had a good look at it … cabinet will need to have a look at these things,” he said.
“There is a non-disclosure clause in it, so I couldn’t show it to you right away.”