Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has touched down in Suva today for the Pacific Islands Forum where climate change is expected to be high on the agenda.
Mr Albanese will be joining key leaders in Fiji where he's expected to meet with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama.
The government has a mandate to implement its target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, ahead of legislation being introduced when parliament sits later this month.
While Mr Albanese is set to push ahead with plans to co-host a future United Nations climate summit alongside Pacific nations, countries in the region have urged it to adopt a bigger emissions target to combat climate change.
"We have a mandate for our position. It is one that has the potential to end the climate wars," Mr Albanese told ABC Radio on Wednesday.
"This is a floor, not a ceiling ... we need to seize that opportunity, and my government intends to do just that."
Meanwhile, the opposition's defence spokesperson Andrew Hastie urged Australia to ramp up its military's lethal force by "all necessary means" in order to maintain peace and security in the Indo-Pacific.
Mr Hastie's speech to a London conference, organised by a neoliberal think tank, warned like-minded countries should invest further in military power in order to defend themselves and the "weak" against aggressors.
In Canberra, Climate200's executive director Byron Fay spoke at the National Press Club on Wednesday, saying the success of independents at the 2022 election is just the beginning.
"The result was a launchpad for the community independents movement, not a landing zone," he told the National Press Club on Wednesday.
"For too long, Australian politics has been the domain of political staffers, faceless men and factional warlords who rely on people being disengaged with politics.
"Change is beckoning: Australians want real people, real conversations and real democracy."
