Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The Australian Foreign Minister is to visit the Solomon Islands before New Zealand's Nanaia Mahuta, despite her being on the job for just over three weeks.
Mahuta has been under pressure in recent months due to her relative lack of travel and engagement with Pacific island countries, particularly as China seeks to increase its presence and influence in the region.
Penny Wong became Australia's foreign minister in the last week of May and immediately set off to visit several Pacific island countries.
Wong will meet Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and other ministers. She says discussions will include climate change, and "pandemic recovery, economic development and labour mobility priorities, and addressing our shared security interests".
Mahuta has been criticised for her relatively low amount of travel, largely due to travel restrictions through the pandemic, but which has already been surpassed by Wong despite being in the role for nearly two years.
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Mahuta said at the end of May that visiting the Solomon Islands was a priority for her and that she would travel there as soon as her diary could align with that of her counterpart Jeremiah Manele. The pair met for the first time virtually on May 25.
Mahuta said expected that in-person visit to be in a "couple of weeks". No date has yet been announced and her office provided no new comment when approached.
Act Party foreign affairs spokeswoman Brooke Van Velden said Wong's travel itinerary was "putting our foreign minister to shame".
"Our foreign minister can only say she will visit soon, and [Wong] already is visiting. It raises concerns about priorities."
Van Velden said it indicated Mahuta had too high of a workload, also handling the controversial, major Three Waters reforms.
Kieran McAnulty on Monday was given an associate role to assist Mahuta, but Van Velden said Mahuta needed to be Foreign Minister full time.
"She can't be in charge of Three Waters and also flying around the world."
Previously Mahuta has said Pacific borders being closed due to Covid was a key reason for her lack of travel. She travelled to Fiji earlier this year soon after its border opened.
Van Velden said that was no longer an excuse, especially given China and Australia have now travelled extensively in the region ahead of New Zealand.
"The pandemic can't be used as an excuse anymore. The rest of the world has moved on and is partaking in face-to-face diplomacy. New Zealand is a small export nation reliant on our trading partners, we can't take them for granted and risk being left out of discussions."
Australia Foreign Minister Penny Wong. Photo / Supplied
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern flew to Australia last week for her first official meeting with new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Those talks focused on New Zealand's continued disapproval of Australia's 501 deportation policy, the citizenship rights of New Zealanders in Australia, and Pacific security.
Mahuta's statement on Wong's meeting suggested talks would be more focused on the Pacific.
"At a regional level, the number one security issue for the Pacific is the impact of climate change. I look forward to talking to the new Foreign Minister in more detail on Australia's climate change agenda, and further ways we can assist Pacific Island nations on mitigation and adaptation measures," Mahuta said.
"On broader Pacific challenges, Aotearoa New Zealand seeks to elevate the Pacific Island voice, and support collaboration and partnership through established institutions, especially the Pacific Islands Forum," she said.
Wong's visit follows that of Sāmoa Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, who this week made New Zealand her first official bilateral overseas trip since becoming Sāmoa's first female prime minister last year.
Her visit also included discussions around regional security and a wide-reaching agreement sought by China with 10 Pacific nations, that was ultimately rejected.
Mataʻafa said there were "no discussions between Sāmoa and China on militarisation at all" and that the Pacific nations would discuss China's proposals at the Pacific Islands Forum in July.
