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 Australia |  Solomon Islands |
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Foreign relations exist between Australia and Solomon Islands. Australia has a High Commission in Honiara and Solomon Islands has a High Commission in Canberra. The two countries are members of the Pacific Islands Forum and Commonwealth realms with King Charles III as their head of state. [1]
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Australia |  Solomon Islands |
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In the 1950s, British and Australian government officials discussed transferring sovereignty of the British Solomon Islands to Australia. The Australian external affairs minister Paul Hasluck brought a proposal for a transfer to cabinet in 1956, but it was rejected primarily for reasons of cost. [2] [3]
Following the Solomon Islands' independence on 7 July 1978, Australia became the first country to establish diplomatic relations with the Solomon Islands. [4]
Between 2006 and 2007, Australian-Solomon Islands bilateral relations were strained by the "Julian Moti" affair. The Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare had appointed Australian lawyer Julian Moti as Attorney General of Solomon Islands twice in 2006 and July 2007 despite strong opposition from Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. Australia and Papua New Guinea had sought Moti's extradition over alleged sexual offending in Vanuatu several years earlier. [5]
In September 2006, Sogavare expelled Australian high commissioner Patrick Cole and accused Australia of using developmental aid to bully the Solomon Islands. [6] He also alleged that Australia's involvement in the region could be "driving this country down the path of another conflict that could be more serious" than the April 2006 riots that broke out after an election won by the former deputy prime minister Snyder Rini, when thousands of anti-government protesters burned down buildings in Solomon Islands' capital Honiara's Chinese district, alleging that either the People's Republic of China or the Republic of China had paid lawmakers to vote for Rini. [7]
On 1 October 2007, the Solomon Islands' Foreign Affairs Minister Patteson Oti addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations, and accused Australia of undermining his country's sovereignty, stating "Mine is too nationalistic a government to become captive to the fortunes which justify our perpetual retention under siege. My [country's government] remain[s] unmoved by Australian resistance to our attempts to reclaim our sovereignty and independence." [8] [9] This led the Australian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Robert Hill to exercise his government's right of reply, denying the accusation that RAMSI was an occupying force. Similar sentiments were expressed by New Zealand's Permanent Representative Rosemary Banks, who said that RAMSI's presence was consistent with the United Nations Charter and Solomon Islands law. [9]
Relations subsequently improved when both Howard and Sogavare lost office in December 2007, and their successors Kevin Rudd and Derek Sikua immediately set out to improve relations between Canberra and Honiara. [10] [5] Moti was subsequently extradited to Australia to face trial for sexual offending. [5]
In late March 2022, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton expressed opposition to a draft security pact between China and the Solomon Islands that would allow Beijing to deploy military forces in the country and establish a military base. [11] [12] Similar concerns about the Sino-Solomon Islands security pact were expressed by the New Zealand Government. [13]
In response, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare defended the security pact with China, criticising the leaking of the document and objecting to the Australian media's coverage of the security pact. [14] In addition, the Chinese Government defended law enforcement and bilateral cooperation with the Solomon Islands and disputed Australian criticism that Beijing was coercing the Solomon Islands. [15]
On 20 December 2024, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed an A$190 million (US$118 million) agreement with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele to expand the capabilities of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force. This funding package would support the Solomon Islands Police Force's funding, training and infrastructure including the construction of a new police training centre in Honiara. This funding packaged was intended to compete with China's security pact with the Solomon Islands. [16] [17]
Australia is a significant foreign aid donor to the Solomon Islands, and the country's main development partner. According to the Australian government, their aid in the Solomon Islands is focused on "improving health, education, water and sanitation, transport, telecommunications, law and justice, rural livelihoods and effective governance." [18] In 2018-19, Australia donated $187 million to the Solomon Islands, making it the second biggest recipient of Australian aid, behind Papua New Guinea, which received $572.2 million in 2018-19. [19]
Following the outbreak of conflict between the Guadalcanal and Malaitan peoples in 1998, Australia led other nations as part of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) between 2003 and 2017. [4] Over 7,000 Australian Defence Force members have been deployed in the Solomon Islands as part of that mission. [20] In 2013, the Australian government committed $500 million to assisting the Solomon Islands through the regional assistance mission in the following four years. [21] The mission officially ended on 30 June 2017. [4]
In June 2018, the two countries signed an agreement for the sinking of an undersea high speed internet link between the Solomon Islands and the Australian mainland. Though seen as a security issue for Australia, it is believed more than $100 million will come out of Australia's aid budget. [22]
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in the Melanesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. This page is about the history of the nation state rather than the broader geographical area of the Solomon Islands archipelago, which covers both Solomon Islands and Bougainville Island, a province of Papua New Guinea. For the history of the archipelago not covered here refer to the former administration of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, the North Solomon Islands and the History of Bougainville.
Politics of Solomon Islands takes place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic, constitutional monarchy. Solomon Islands is an independent Commonwealth realm, where executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and a multi-party parliament.
Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons, is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, to the northeast of Australia. It is directly adjacent to Papua New Guinea to the west, Australia to the southwest, New Caledonia and Vanuatu to the southeast, Fiji, Wallis and Futuna, and Tuvalu to the east, and Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia to the north. It has a total area of 28,896 square kilometres, and a population of 734,887 according to the official estimates for mid-2023. Its capital and largest city, Honiara, is located on the largest island, Guadalcanal. The country takes its name from the wider area of the Solomon Islands archipelago, which is a collection of Melanesian islands that also includes the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, but excludes the Santa Cruz Islands.
The foreign policy of Solomon Islands as of 2008 was described by the Solomon Islands government as a "look north" policy, aimed as strengthening diplomatic and economic relations with Asian countries for development purposes.
The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), also known as Operation Helpem Fren, Operation Anode and Operation Rata, began in 2003 in response to a request for international aid by the Governor-General of Solomon Islands. Helpem Fren means "help a friend" in Solomon Islands Pidgin. The mission officially ended on 30 June 2017.
Manasseh Damukana Sogavare is a Solomon Islander politician serving as Minister of Finance since 2024. He served as the prime minister of Solomon Islands for a total of nine years from 2000–2001, 2006–2007, 2014–2017, and 2019–2024. Sogavare has served in the National Parliament representing East Choiseul since 1997.
The Solomon Islands Social Credit Party ("Socreds") was a political party in the Solomon Islands that espoused social credit theories of monetary reform. It opposed foreign interference in the economy of the country.
Julian Ronald Moti QC CSI was the Attorney General of the Solomon Islands. He was born in Fiji and educated in Australia.
Jeremiah Manele is a Solomon Island politician serving as prime minister following the 2024 Solomon Islands general election. He is the first prime minister of the country to come from Isabel Province.
Solomon Islands–United States relations are bilateral relations between Solomon Islands and the United States. Initial relations were forged during World War II with what was then the British Solomon Islands Protectorate during the Japanese occupation, and this relationship remained strong as Solomon Islands gained its independence in 1978. Relations continued until 1993 when post-Cold War budget cuts closed the United States Embassy in Honiara. Beginning in 2022, in an attempt to counter growing Chinese influence in Solomon Islands, the United States has demonstrated increased commitment to the restoration of relations with the country. In February 2023, the United States re-opened its embassy in Honiara.
Foreign relations exist between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea is Australia's closest neighbour and a former colony of Australia. Both nations share the same continent in the Oceania region. Papua New Guinea has developed much closer relations with Australia than with Indonesia, the only country which it shares a land border with. The two countries are Commonwealth realms. In contemporary times, Papua New Guinea is one of the largest recipients of Australian aid. Some critics have pointed to instances where this has led to an outsized Australian influence on Papua New Guinea politics.
Nelson Ne'e was a Solomon Islands politician.
Charles Dausabea was a Solomon Islands politician.
India–Solomon Islands relations are the international relations between India and Solomon Islands. Neither country has a resident ambassador. The High Commission of India in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea is concurrently accredited to the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands and the People's Republic of China established official diplomatic relations in 2019. Prior to this, Solomon Islands had diplomatic relations with the Republic of China, otherwise known as Taiwan.
General elections were held in Solomon Islands on 3 April 2019 to determine the composition of the 11th Parliament. The election was the first to occur since the conclusion of the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) in 2017. Parliament passed amendments to the electoral act in 2018 that included the introduction of pre-polling, a significant increase in campaign budgets for candidates and stricter penalties for individuals committing electoral offences such as vote-buying. Ten of the thirteen parties that contested the election won seats, and the Solomon Islands Democratic Party and the Kadere Party were the parties that secured the highest number, winning eight each. However, as in previous elections, independent candidates won the largest share of seats, securing 21.
Solomon Islands no longer has official diplomatic ties with Taiwan (ROC) due to the One-China policy since 2020.
The 2021 Solomon Islands unrest was a series of demonstrations and violent riots in Solomon Islands from 24 to 27 November 2021.
Events in the year 2022 in the Solomon Islands.
General elections were held in Solomon Islands on 17 April 2024 to determine the composition of the 12th Parliament. Initially planned for 2023, parliament voted in 2022 to delay the elections. Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare claimed the country could not afford to have an election in the same year the Solomon Islands were hosting the Pacific Games. The opposition condemned the delay and accused Sogavare of a power grab.
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