Awkward Summit Blooper Unveils Behind-the-Scenes Diplomacy
An unguarded exchange between Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and veteran US diplomat Kurt Campbell regarding a sensitive Pacific policing plan was caught on camera, leading to some uncomfortable moments at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga on Thursday.
Celebrating a strategic deal
Prime Minister Albanese and Deputy Secretary of State Campbell were overheard celebrating an agreement aimed at countering Chinese-led initiatives. The deal involves establishing a police training facility and a crisis reaction force of approximately 200 personnel.
“We had a cracker,” Albanese exclaimed, expressing his excitement about the deal while holding a coffee cup.
“It will make such a difference,” he added.
Campbell lauded the agreement as “fantastic,” revealing that Washington had considered a similar initiative but ultimately allowed Australia to take the lead.
“We’ve given you the whole lane, so take the lane,” Campbell urged Albanese, in an exchange captured by a reporter.
Seizing the moment, Albanese humorously suggested that Washington could help finance the project: “You can go us halfsies on the cost if you like.”
“It would only cost you a bit.”
Financial commitment and regional implications
Australia has allocated USD 271 million for the initial phase of the project. The candid conversation is likely to fuel Chinese allegations that Australia is acting as America’s proxy in the region, both nations being keen on curbing Beijing’s growing influence.
Sydney has maintained that the police initiative originates from the Pacific Islands, despite Australia funding the project and planning to host the training facility in Brisbane.
The PM’s retort
When questioned later about whether the pair had been guilty of “saying the quiet part out loud,” Albanese was visibly irritated.
“This has come from the Pacific. And I’m aware of the video of a private conversation. Kurt Campbell’s a mate of mine, it’s us having a chat,” he stated.
“People try and read something into it, you must be pretty bored, frankly,” he remarked.
“It is Pacific-led; this has been led by police ministers who have been meeting about this for a year,” he emphasized.
China’s concerns and forum endorsement
China’s Pacific allies — notably Vanuatu and Solomon Islands — had expressed concerns that the policing plan represented a “geo-strategic denial security doctrine” intended to exclude Beijing.
Despite China’s failed attempt to secure a region-wide security pact in 2022, it has continued to offer martial arts training and Chinese-made vehicles to some under-resourced Pacific police forces.
While the forum members have endorsed the deal in principle, each national leader will ultimately decide the extent of their participation, if any.