Australia and Solomon Islands have reached an in-principle agreement on a landmark new treaty, with a leaked text message revealing the federal government has promised to plough more than $980 million in additional funding into the Pacific nation as it tries to lock in the pact.
The federal government is racing to get the treaty signed in the coming weeks after Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale successfully warded off a leadership challenge on Monday.
Mr Wale was forced to scramble back to Solomon Islands last week just hours after landing in Palau for the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders meeting when his Home Affairs Minister, Manasseh Maelanga, launched a motion of no confidence, accusing the prime minister of making major decisions without consulting cabinet.
A message from Australia’s High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, Jeffrey Roach, to the deputy prime minister Francis Sade last week, which is verified by ABC News and now circulating in political circles, reveals the details of the deal, and shows how Australia was keen to buttress Mr Wale’s position as he fought for his political survival.
A leaked text message from Jeffrey Roach has detailed how far Australia will go to lock in the new treaty with Solomon Islands. (Supplied: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
Mr Roach writes that there had been “terrific progress” on the treaty negotiations, and that Australia was willing to contribute an additional $280 million into the Pacific nation over the next two years under the deal and a further $700 million after that.
He says that will include 820 million Solomon Islands dollars ($142 million) in funding for Mr Wale’s signature “free education” policy and SI$275 million ($47.8 million) to provide “visa improvements” and deal with “security requests from Solomon Islands”.
Australia also looks set to ramp up support for a sometimes-contentious scheme which funnels money directly to MPs to spend on their constituencies as part of the comprehensive treaty.
The message says Australia would contribute SI$5 million ($870,000) to every constituency for MPs’ “development priorities” before the end of this year, along with a further SI$3 million ($500,000) per constituency for 2027 and a further $500,000 per constituency in 2028.
Solomon Islands parliament has 50 seats, so it would see Australia funnelling a total of some $43 million into constituencies before the end of this year, along with a further $25 million in the following two years.
The message reflects Australian government anxieties that the treaty could be endangered if the prime minister was toppled and replaced by Mr Maelanga or another candidate more sceptical towards Australia, like former leader Manasseh Sogavare.
“I very much hope both countries can hold steady to seize this opportunity and lock this in ahead of the November budget session,” he writes.
Text could spark political tension
While Mr Roach never directly endorses Mr Wale in his text, the message could still be politically contentious given it was sent in the midst of wrangling over the top job in Solomon Islands.
Opposition leader Manasseh Sogavare has repeatedly accused Australia of foreign interference in Solomon Islands, including when he was prime minister.
Mr Sade told the ABC there was nothing “political” about the message from the Australian High Commission.
“This was simply an update regarding the progress of the treaty discussions; it was never intended for political expediency,” he said.
“I routinely receive these briefings to stay informed about the Community Partnerships Program.”
The leak comes the day after Mr Wale managed to see off the challenge to his leadership, with the GREAT coalition winning back several defectors and recruiting additional opposition MPs to join their side.
On Sunday, Mr Maelanga announced he would withdraw his challenge, effectively acknowledging the prime minister still had the numbers.
Mr Wale told parliament on Monday morning that he wanted to “thank those that stood firm” behind him, as well as his new supporters, while praising Mr Maelanga for backing down.
“I would like to thank the member for withdrawing the motion … and bring[ing] down the temperature, both in the house, but also in the public mind,” he said.
“What is clear, Mr Speaker, is that the public, not just in Honiara but right across the country … want to see the government be given adequate, reasonable opportunity to be able to deliver on its vision.”
The prime minister also acknowledged that he had moved at breakneck pace since taking office, saying “many things are changing fast”, adding that he had learned lessons from the whole episode.
Canberra moves to seize pro-Australia sentiment
His clear political victory will cause relief in Canberra, which was worried by the prospect of the prime minister being ousted.
Mr Wale only seized power in May, but has tacked sharply towards Australia and the US since then, signing a new agreement with the US Coast Guard and making it clear that he was deeply sceptical of China’s attempts to embed itself as a security partner for the Pacific nation.
Australia has also been racing to complete negotiations on the new treaty with Solomon Islands while Mr Wale retains power, with the government keenly conscious that Solomon Islands politics remains inherently fluid and unpredictable.
The Pacific Minister Pat Conroy and senior Australian officials held multiple discussions on the treaty with Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Rick Hou and minister Peter Kenilorea Jr on the sidelines of the PIF leaders meeting last week.
Pat Conroy was tight-lipped on details of the treaty. (ABC News: Adam Kennedy, file)
In a statement, Mr Wale’s office said the discussions “covered key national priorities including education, health, infrastructure, energy, agriculture, skills development, natural resource management and economic growth”.
“A key focus was how Australia’s development assistance can be better aligned with Solomon Islands’ national priorities and contribute to tangible and measurable outcomes for communities,” they said.
Treaty negotiations ‘substantively concluded’
The talks came just a week or so after the Foreign Minister Penny Wong also held talks on the treaty with Mr Hou and a host of other Solomon Islands cabinet ministers in Adelaide.
While negotiations are officially ongoing, the ABC has been told that talks are rapidly coming to a close, with one source saying they are “substantively concluded.”
An official from the Solomon Islands also said that the two countries had reached a “bilateral understanding” on the treaty.
Mr Conroy would not be drawn on exactly when the treaty would be signed, saying negotiations were “underway”.
“Consistent with all of Australia’s bilateral treaty negotiations, we will not comment on the details of the negotiations until the treaty is signed,” he said.
The government has previously signalled it wanted to sign the pact before the end of the year, but the rapid progress meant the government was beginning to eye possible signing dates within the coming weeks.
Anthony Albanese and Mr Wale are both expected to attend several high-profile global gatherings, including the September United Nations General Assembly in September and possibly the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda in early November.
The former Australian High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, Lachlan Strahan, said while the idea of a treaty was not new, the major commitments being made by Australia were “significant”.
“If that’s all new money then that’s a step change in the amount of funding,” he said.
James Batley from the Australian National University said Australia’s decision to tip much more money into the constituency funds showed it was willing to do “whatever it takes” to get the deal over the line.
But he said while the risks around corruption and transparency connected to constituency funds were very real, they were manageable.
“I can’t imagine that Australia would just tip in money and say go for it. I imagine there would be standards of transparency and accountability that they will insist on,” he said.
“There’s no question that it’s a strongly held bipartisan view in Solomon Islands that MPs understand their constituencies best and should have a role promoting development in their constituencies.”
Dr Strahan said that Australia had already been ramping up the quantities of money it was funnelling directly into local constituencies in Solomon Islands over several years.
“This is actually a fairly effective way of getting money out into constituencies and local communities. The main issue is making sure it’s spent well, and ensuring it isn’t used simply to prop up incumbents,” he said.
However Tess Newton Cain, Associate Professor at the Griffith Asia Institute, said she was worried that Australia was trying to “pick winners” by throwing cash behind Mr Wale, which could backfire.
“It’s not very strategically smart, because this is Melanesia and the politics are fluid and he’s got elections on the horizon … if he’s seen as Australia’s man, that can have blowback,” she said.
Dr Newton-Cain also said she would “need to be convinced” that the constituency funds were the best way to drive development in Solomon Islands.
“We’ve seen other attempts to make these funds more accountable and transparent and better governed, but they haven’t really had much success,” she said.
Mr Conroy did not confirm the increase in funding, but said Australian development projects would always maintain high standards.
“All Australian official development assistance is provided in line with Australia’s high-quality development programming guidelines, and OECD eligibility criteria for Official Development Assistance,” he said.