Prime Minister Scott Morrison has not had any conversations with his Solomon Islands counterpart Manasseh Sogavare since the election was called.
The signing of a security pact between the Solomons and China raised the ire of Canberra and has led to criticism of the Morrison government’s handling of the issue.
Mr Sogavare, who has criticised Australia for not telling him about the trilateral AUKUS security arrangement, took another swipe at Canberra, telling his parliament the use of the metaphor of the Solomons being in Australia’s backyard was “offensive”.
“It is where rubbish is collected and burnt. It is an area which supports the daily wellbeing of residents of the house,” he said.
“I call on those people who continue to brand us as their backyard to stop calling us that name and start to respect us as a sovereign independent nation with one equal vote in the United Nations.”
Mr Morrison says he has not contacted Mr Sogavare since he made the comments.
“I’d be looking forward to the opportunity on the other side of the election to continue to manage that relationship positively,” Mr Morrison said.
“We are Solomon Islands’ primary security partner. That is something that the prime minister has conveyed to me again and that is what remains the case.”
But Mr Morrison said the Solomons leader’s comments had a “remarkable similarity” to lines out of Beijing.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese criticised the prime minister for not picking up the phone to Mr Sogavare.
“What’s extraordinary is that the prime minister has indicated that he still hasn’t spoken to the prime minister of the Solomons,” he said.
Mr Albanese said Labor had asked for a security briefing to be scheduled in Canberra after the security pact was signed, something his campaign spokesman Jason Clare flagged the opposition would be doing over a week ago.
