Fanfare and island sunshine have greeted the prime minister as talks with his Fijian counterpart provide a diplomatic warm-up for major tariff discussions.
Anthony Albanese arrived in Nadi on his first stop of a global tour on Friday to meet with Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.
A marching band and a delegation of Fijian officials – including Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad – made him feel at home with a rendition of the Australian anthem when he arrived at the airport.
The two leaders are expected to discuss climate change and regional security after their nations signed up to the co-operative Vuvale Partnership in 2019.
“Visiting Fiji so soon after the election is a deliberate decision to reinforce my government’s Pacific priorities and to exchange views with my dear friend Prime Minister Rabuka,” Mr Albanese said before his departure.
Though his visit to the Pacific is expected to play second fiddle to a potential meeting with US President Donald Trump later in the week, issues in the region remain a key focus for Australia.
“Fiji is one of the most important relationships for Australia in the Pacific Islands region,” Lowy Institute Pacific Islands program director Mihai Sora told AAP.
The nation has been able to delineate its security relationships with traditional partners such as the US, Australia and New Zealand while also protecting and promoting trade and economic ties with China and other parts of Asia, Mr Sora said.
“Fiji giving those clear signals about how it wants to manage its security relationships is something the Australian government has been keen to build upon,” Mr Sora said.
As Australia bids to co-host the United Nations’ climate conference in 2026 with Pacific nations, the environment and climate change could also be discussed.
But the centrepiece of Mr Albanese’s whirlwind trip will be the G7 summit, a gathering of seven of the world’s largest advanced economies.
Australia is not a member of the G7, but Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney extended an invitation to Mr Albanese.
He is expected to meet with the US president on the sidelines of the conference, where he could try to carve out a tariff exemption.
Australia faces 10 per cent tariffs on goods exported to the US and – like every US trading partner except the UK – has been hit with 50 per cent tariffs on aluminium and steel sent to America.
The Australian government has called the trade measures an “act of economic self-harm” and is considering using critical minerals and US beef imports as bargaining chips.
Mr Albanese has not yet confirmed whether he will meet with Mr Trump, although other bilateral discussions have been organised with the leaders of Canada, the UK, South Korea and Japan.
Mr Albanese is also expected to meet with business leaders in Seattle en route to the G7 to discuss emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
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