ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's great to be here in Samoa for the 75th anniversary of CHOGM. The Commonwealth is an important body of which Australia is an important country. The Commonwealth is home to one third of the world's population – or two and a half billion people – and we share history, we share common values as democracies and it’s an opportunity to talk about the shared challenges which we have, including dealing with the challenge of climate change, but also the opportunity that it represents. This is the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be held in the Blue Pacific, and that's one of the reasons why it will be very important. I'm proud that Australia has played an important role in supporting Samoa to host this event with funding, with assistance with security, and over the next few days, it will be also an opportunity to catch up with bilateral meetings, both formal and informal, particularly with our Pacific neighbours, but also tomorrow I'll be host holding my first person to person meeting with Sir Keir Starmer after his election as the British Prime Minister earlier this year. So it will be a chance for us to renew acquaintances there and to talk about the common interests that the UK Government and the Australian Government share, particularly when it comes to energy and climate issues, but also, of course, our AUKUS arrangements have brought us ever closer when it comes to defence and national security issues.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there are many friends of Australia here at the Commonwealth meeting, but there's one country that's not so friendly today, and that's China. One of their Foreign Ministry officials has launched an extraordinary criticism of Australia today. He says Australia, long plagued by systemic racism and hate crimes, has severely violated the rights of refugees and immigrants. Australian soldiers have committed abhorrent crimes in Afghanistan and other countries. Now that's in response to Australia voicing concerns about human rights in Tibet and Xinjiang. Has that Foreign Ministry official gone too far now?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we, of course, will always stand up for Australia's interests, and when it comes to China, we've said we'll cooperate where we can, we'll disagree where we must, and we'll engage in our national interest, and we've raised issues of human rights with China. We've done that in a consistent and clear way.
JOURNALIST: In terms of the meeting that you're going to have with Keir Starmer, he has come out and said that he believes that reparations should not be on the table and that that should not be a focus of this summit. Rather, that climate change should be the focus of this meeting. Do you agree with the UK Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that, of course, is a matter for the UK Government. Certainly, the focus that I bring to the next couple of days will be engaging on climate change, also engaging on economic development. What we have in our region, in the Blue Pacific, but in other countries as well who are represented here – in Africa, in South Asia – is developing countries that need to provide economic growth and jobs for their people, and that will be one of the focuses that I have in meeting for, in some cases, meeting leaders for the first time.
JOURNALIST: Do you think there'll be a strong outcome here on climate change, on cutting emissions? That's what Pacific nation leaders want.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, here in the Pacific, climate change is, of course, an existential threat to countries like Tuvalu and Kiribati and others in our region where we are. So, whenever we're engaged in the Pacific, that is front and centre. And of course, Australia is playing a leadership role with the Pacific Resilience Facility, of which we are the founding funders of it. With the work that we did recently at the Pacific Islands Forum meeting, and I see this as a continuation of our engagement. The entry fee for credibility when it comes to international forums such as this is acknowledgement of the challenge of climate change and preparedness to act on it. And it is up to countries like Australia to show leadership. We have done that. Which is one of the ways that we have restored our credibility in international forums such as this. Thanks very much.