'Matter of survival': Fiji's PM slams John Alexander's climate advice
Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has blasted as "insensitive" comments from Liberal MP John Alexander that his compatriots "move to higher ground" as a climate change policy priority.
Mr Bainimarama used his keynote speech at the sixth Australasian Emissions Reductions Summit in Melbourne on Wednesday to "return serve" after Mr Alexander's attendance at a public event last week in Sydney's federal seat of Bennelong. His comments came as another Pacific neighbour, New Zealand, tabled a landmark climate bill.
Rather than halting Australia's coal burning, the country's priority in the Pacific should be assisting neighbours to move "their settlements to higher ground", Mr Alexander said, according to an audio recording. "I think we should turn our minds to that positive contribution to our region."
Mr Bainimarama, though, said his people were facing "a matter of survival" as sea levels rise, and they "can hardly tolerate such insensitive, neo-colonial prescriptions".
Three communities had already been forced to move and another 40 were waiting for relocation, he said, adding that being forced to give up one's home "isn't some cold and calculated business decision - for those affected; it's a deeply emotional loss".
"A young Fijian sugarcane farmer, who learnt how to toil the ground from his father and his father before him, now watches helplessly as the fields that fuel his livelihood become too salty for crops to grow," Mr Bainimarama said.
"And an entire coastal village mourns as the graves of their ancestors are forever inundated and washed away, robbing them of the deep and spiritual connection to their land."
Comment has been sought from Mr Alexander.
After Mr Alexander's initial comments surfaced last week, his media adviser stressed that he had been saying that adaptation to climate change should be addressed at the same time as dealing with greenhouse emissions.
"There is no reason why we cannot be doing both," Mr Alexander said in follow-up comments sent to The Sydney Morning Herald last week.
The Fijian leader added that his country was lucky to have higher ground for relocation.
"I'm keen to hear what the honourable member believes the people of Kiribati should do in the face of rising seas, where the highest point in their country sits at just 1.8 metres above sea level," he told the event.
Mr Bainimarama also said former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd was insensitive and "neo-colonial" for wanting Australia to relocate Pacific islanders in exchange for control of seas and fisheries.
Mr Rudd's call for Australia to offer Pacific islanders homes in exchange for control over their seas was strongly rebuked.
"In a time where we must be future-facing, we can hardly tolerate such insensitive neo-colonial prescriptions," Mr Bainimarama said.
Kiwi climate plan
Another Pacific neighbour was making climate waves on Wednesday, with New Zealand's Labour-led government tabling its Zero Carbon Bill to tackle global warming.
"The critical thing is to do everything we can over the next 30 years to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius [above pre-industrial levels] and the Zero Carbon Bill makes that a legally binding objective," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement.
Unlike the polarised debate in Australia, the New Zealand government praised the contribution from its main political rival.
"I also want to acknowledge National Party leader, Simon Bridges, and the National's Climate Change spokesperson [Todd Muller], for conducting negotiations in good faith and setting politics to one side while we've worked through the bill," she said.
"The fact that, across Parliament, all parties have engaged constructively in this process signals mutual interest in creating enduring climate change legislation that will stand the test of time and deliver long-lasting commitment to action on climate change for future generations."
With AAP