Australia will offer residency to people affected by climate change in the low-lying Pacific nation of Tuvalu, as part of a sweeping new treaty that also locks the two countries into close security ties.
At a time when many Pacific leaders are pressing Australia to take stronger action against its fossil fuel sector, the treaty explicitly recognises the vulnerability of Tuvalu to rising sea levels.
Tuvalu is a country of nine low-lying islands in the central Pacific, about halfway between Australia and Hawaii, with a population of about 11,200.
Australia will offer up to 280 people access to permanent residency each year, but it has also promised to help the citizens of Tuvalu “stay in their homes with safety and dignity”.
The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the deal would also cement his country’s status as Tuvalu’s “security partner of choice” by offering it a form of security guarantee.
The new treaty, announced on Friday, states that Australia will act on requests from its partner to respond to major natural disasters, pandemics or “military aggression against Tuvalu”.
In return for this security guarantee, Tuvalu will be required to “mutually agree with Australia” if it wants to strike a deal with any other country on security and defence-related matters.
These topics are defined broadly to include “defence, policing, border protection, cybersecurity and critical infrastructure, including ports, telecommunications and energy infrastructure” – all of which are of interest to China.
Australia’s military could be granted access and have a presence within the country if such activities are deemed necessary to provide assistance that had been requested by the Pacific country.
The deal will be seen as a strategic win for the Australian government at a time when China has been vigorously pursuing closer ties with Pacific island countries.
Beijing’s signing of a security pact with Solomon Islands last year rocked the Australian defence establishment and prompted a pledge from Albanese’s Labor government to more vigorously pursue engagement with its Pacific neighbours.
Albanese announced the plans after three days of talks with fellow Pacific leaders at a key regional summit in Cook Islands, where the climate crisis was one of the biggest issues on the agenda.
Australia and Tuvalu’s relationship has been elevated to a new partnership to be known as the Falepili Union – a Tuvaluan word referring to good neighbourliness, care and mutual respect. Albanese said the new union recognised the “special and unique challenges” faced by Tuvalu and its exposure to climate change, including its geographical remoteness and scarce natural resources.
The elevated partnership was requested by Tuvalu, the prime minister said, “to safeguard the future of Tuvalu’s people, identity and culture”.
“That is why we are assisting on adaptation, but we are also providing the security that these guarantees represent for the people of Tuvalu, who want to preserve their culture, want to preserve their very nation going forward as well,” he said.
Government sources said it was not anticipated that all Tuvalu residents would move to Australia, with no expectation of “wholesale migration” – but instead “migration with dignity” for those who wanted to travel.
Albanese met two days ago with the Tuvalu prime minister, Kausea Natano, who described himself as “the leader of a country that is going to be under the water” if the world does not tackle the climate crisis.
The multifaceted agreement includes a “special mobility pathway” and visa category for 280 Tuvaluan citizens each year to gain permanent residency in Australia, with rights to live, study and work, as well as access services. The new pathway will sit under the existing Pacific engagement visa.
Australian government sources said Tuvalu would choose which citizens would be offered access to the new visa pathway.
Natano, appearing alongside Albanese in Cook Islands on Friday, said the system would be designed to avoid “brain drain” in the Pacific nation.
“The dedication of Australia to supporting the people of Tuvalu goes beyond words and it has touched our hearts profoundly,” Natano said.
Tuvalu is one of very few nations in the Pacific to have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, although Solomon Islands switched allegiance to China in recent years.
Natano told the press conference that Tuvalu would continue to maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but said China had approached his country to seek ties.
He said he and Albanese had briefed the Pacific Islands Forum – the 18-member regional grouping - earlier in the day during the leaders’ retreat on the island of Aitutaki.
Australia’s pledge also includes further cooperation on the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project, which would reclaim land in the capital, Funafuti, in the hopes of expanding the land mass by 6% to create more space for housing and other essential services and “enabling people to remain living in Tuvalu in the face of sea level rise”.
The climate crisis is repeatedly cited by Pacific countries as their top security threat and many within the region are concerned about Australia’s approval of new coal and gas projects.
The leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt, responded to the announcement by saying it “would be even better if Labor didn’t cause the damage in the first place and stopped approving new coal and gas mines”.
