Fijian PM Sitiveni Rabuka greets NZ PM Christopher Luxon at the Pacific Islands Forum in Honiara. Photo: RNZ/Giles Dexter
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the matter of excluding dialogue partners from this year's Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting has not been a major topic of conversation among the leaders.
The Solomon Islands has barred partners - such as the US, China, the UK and Taiwan - from attending, preferring to debate the future of PIF's regional architecture without those external partners in the room.
The plenary session on Wednesday morning began with an address from Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele, who called for unity and solidarity in an "evolving global and strategic environment".
Manele, who has defended excluding the dialogue partners, said the Pacific must never be seen as an arena by others.
"We are not passive bystanders," he said. "We are nations bound by shared values and the Pacific way.
"Our theme 'Iumi Tugeda' is a resounding call for a renewed commitment to deepen regionalism."
Despite opposing exclusion of dialogue partners, Luxon said it had not come up at the plenary sessions.
"It really hasn't been a focus," he said. "We appreciate that there are some differences of what hosting should look like and we'll work that out tomorrow.
"There is very good unity, that's my sense of it. There's recognition that we actually want Pacific solutions for Pacific challenges.
"We want to strengthen the centrality of PIF and make it even better, and there's some good conversations about how we make the agencies work in a much more efficient, better way."
On Thursday, forum leaders will gather at the settlement of Munda, about an hour's flight away from the capital Honiara, for a private retreat. The retreat is seen as the opportunity for leaders to really get through the year's agenda, away from media and the bulk of officials.
Luxon has also held bilaterals with other Pacific leaders - the first was with Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.
PM Christopher Luxon presents Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka with a 1974 Commonwealth Games commemorative medal. Photo: RNZ/Giles Dexter
Luxon presented Rabuka with a commemorative coin from the 1974 Commonwealth Games, which were held in Christchurch. Rabuka competed in the decathlon, shot put, discus and hammer throw at those Games.
Luxon told him he was still a child when the games were held and remembered lining up on Memorial Avenue for a parade.
In their opening remarks, the two discussed the two countries' work on combatting HIV, transnational organised crime and methamphetamine, as well as the goal of increasing two-way trade to $2 billion by 2030.
Rabuka has previously expressed concerns at the cost of visitor visas to New Zealand.
Citizens of Pacific Islands Forum nations still cannot enter New Zealand without one, despite New Zealand having visa-waiver programmes for many other countries.
There has been some easing in recent months. Since July, citizens of Pacific Islands Forum nations have been able to make repeat visits within 24 months on a visitor visa.
From November, anyone holding a passport from a Pacific Islands Forum country with a valid Australian visitor, work, student or family visa can come to New Zealand from Australia with a NZeTA, but visa-free travel to New Zealand is still a way off.
"We'll continue to look at what we can do," Luxon said. "That's what you've seen - where it make sense to remove an irritant, we can do that.".
Later in the afternoon, Luxon will meet with Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr.
Palau will host the 2026 PIF, while New Zealand is bidding to host the 2027 edition. Luxon expected to find out whether New Zealand was successful at Thursday's leaders' retreat.
While he is not holding a bilateral with Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, Luxon said they had shared a "good" conversation during the plenary sessions.
PM Christopher Luxon receives a 'warriors welcome' at a Honiara school during the Pacific Islands Forum. Photo: RNZ/Giles Dexter
Earlier this year, New Zealand paused $18.2m in development assistance to the Cook Islands, over a lack of consultation over a partnership agreement with China.
Luxon said he and Brown had earlier caught up at the All Blacks game on Saturday night, before the forum meeting. The funding matter was not raised in either encounter.
"We need to see the risks being mitigated that have been created, if we think in those agreements, but that doesn't preclude us from being civil and constructive with each other."
Luxon also visited a school in Honiara to mark the launch of a renewed 10-year education partnership between the Solomon Islands and New Zealand, worth NZ$61million.
He was welcomed onto the school grounds with a 'warriors welcome' of local students with spears and joined students for a lunch of what the emcee called "New Zealand's national dish" - a sausage sizzle.
Luxon admitted he was caught off guard by the welcome, which saw the previously unseen students leap out at him.
Pacific leaders will also attend an event celebrating Fiji's Ocean of Peace declaration and ratify a Pacific Resilience Facility - a climate finance tool, which New Zealand has contributed $20m towards.
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