Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Assistant Minister for the Public Service, Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General
AGNES TUPOU, HOST: Like the US, Palau is having its presidential inauguration. Today on the guest list, Papua, New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape and Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung. Representing Australia is Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Patrick Gorman, who joins us the on the program from Palau. Good morning, Minister.
PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: Good morning Agnes and good morning to your listeners.
TUPOU: Appreciate your time this morning. Look, last year, Australia and Palau, they celebrated 30 years of diplomatic relations. How can you explain how important this relationship is to Australia?
GORMAN: Well, I think our relationship with Palau is really important. It will be today my second meeting with President Whipps as he commences his second term. We've had a really deep engagement with Palau that's gone in just this term of government across the Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Minister for the Pacific Patrick Conroy and myself. And we recognise that we have a really important shared future together. Palau will be hosting the Pacific Islands Forum next year. Palau and Australia work really closely together on a range of things, including economic development and even tourism development with the Palau Paradise Express, which is the new service that's been in operation less than a year, connecting Brisbane for Australia's side to Palau to make sure that we can have more two-way exchange for deepening our people-to-people links.
TUPOU: Correct me, if I'm wrong, I did hear you say that you had you already met with President Whipps? If not, what did you discuss? Or what are you hoping to discuss?
GORMAN: Last year I met with President Whipps. We were both attending another presidential inauguration in the Marshall Islands. I have not met with President Whipps on this visit, but I'm looking forward to congratulating him on his re-election and hearing some of his priorities for his second term in office.
TUPOU: I would like to know, you know Taiwan's, Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lin Chia-lung, he will also be in attendance as well as PNG's Minister James Marape. Are you expecting, though, to be meeting with either of them or any other ministers?
GORMAN: Look, I may have the opportunity to share a few words with Prime Minister Marape. I look forward to the opportunity to do so. There are a range of a range of representatives. There's a large delegation from the United States. There's a large delegation from Japan, I understand they'll be represented by their foreign minister. So is an occasion where a large number of members of the Pacific family, of which Australia is proudly a member, and others will be in attendance. It is going to be quite a large occasion. And last night on arrival, you could really tell that there was a buzz around that something quite, quite big was happening. And it's a real honour to be here.
TUPOU: Look, geopolitics, we know it's a bit of an unavoidable topic here, as you know, Palau is one of the few countries in the world to to hold more diplomatic relations with Taiwan. I know that many observers say relations with Palau was important to mitigating China's influence in the region. I mean, is this something that your government shares? This sentiment?
GORMAN: We respect the decisions of other nations in terms of how they choose to have their diplomatic arrangements. Australia's diplomatic arrangements with with China are well-known, and our one-China policy has been long-standing since we established diplomatic ties back in the 1970s, so that's no surprises to anyone. When it comes to what we want - we want to make sure that we keep the interests of the Pacific family, of which Australia and Palau are both strong and proud members. First and foremost, we recognise that's how we work together to get things done that are important for our region. Whether that be action on climate change, whether that be making sure that we preserve our shared interests in protecting our trade and other people-to-people links, whether that be in working together in some of the work that we're doing with Palau to make sure that we can enhance our connectivity. We're actually working at the moment on the financing for, along with the United States and Japan, an additional undersea cable to make sure that Palau has the connectivity to the rest of the world and that resilience. We know that losing data in times of natural disaster and other things can be even add to the catastrophe. So we're really proud to be working on that project, amongst many others.
TUPOU: I do have to ask, though, still sticking with, you know, China's influence, because, you know, there's, there's a growing number of Chinese investors in Palau, right? Along with a growing number of tourist arrivals from there, from China. And again, this has probably concerned some geopolitical strategists. Does this actually concern you in any way?
GORMAN: Well, what we want to see is, of course, that every nation can continue to grow their economic development. I mean, we know when it comes to Australia. Australia has a number of investments from Chinese corporations. We have, of course, a number of very welcome Chinese tourists into Australia. Of course, Palau should be able to gain those economic and trade benefits of doing trade with other nations, but should also be able to do so as an independent sovereign nation, where they can make their own decisions about their future. Make their own decisions about how they choose to engage on these deep questions of the world, and the rules-based order in which has served Australia and the Pacific so well in the decades that have gone and will serve us well into the future.
TUPOU: Okay, so let's switch back, because I know you just mentioned, mentioned this earlier with the federal government, you know, awarding Qantas a contract to operate flights between Brisbane and Palau, and I know that this kicked off last month. Any reason as to why Palau? Any other countries in line?
GORMAN: What we've seen is that Australia has looked at a range of areas where there's been a lack of connectivity, to do what we can to assist. This was the latest effort on that front. What we've seen is that it has helped us deliver on broader objectives of the Australia-Pacific Partnership for Aviation, which is all about connecting our region. I was talking to Australia's Ambassador to Palau last night, who said that it's been very warmly welcomed, and they have started seeing an increase in both Australian tourists to Palau, but also Australian businesses who are here working on important construction projects, which is a great opportunity for Australian businesses, but also an excellent opportunity for Palau to get access to some of that wonderful Australian know-how. Particularly when it comes to larger scale projects, in particular, they're talking about a new tourism development that's being built here by an Australian company, which is great to see.
TUPOU: So as we wrap up, I want to go back to the fact that, you know, again, celebrating 30 years of diplomatic relations moving forward, then Minister, what is it that you would like to see in regards to the relationship that Australia is continuing to have? What are the other projects that you guys are working on?
GORMAN: Well, we'll continue to work on some of the other work that we're doing when it comes to both energy security and climate mitigation. We're currently working on a really exciting solar facility that will soon connect into the grid and provide Palau with about 20% of their energy needs. We've had a longstanding arrangement assisting through our public service links, assisting when it comes to Palau's tax reform efforts, including the introduction of a goods and services tax, obviously, something in which Australia has extensive expertise. So we'll continue to work on those really practical things that make a difference, where Australia has something to offer to our friends in the Pacific, and also to continue to welcome students from Palau who are studying in Australia, and continue to welcome public servants who want to find ways of deepening our public service to public service links. It's something that we've been doing for almost all 30 of those years of which we've had diplomatic relations, and I'm sure for the 30 years and beyond.
TUPOU: Minister we thank you for your time this morning. Appreciate it. Enjoy the festivities there in Palau. Thank you very much. That, of course, is Australian Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Patrick Gorman.
