Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hit back after being caught out in a hot mic moment joking with a senior US diplomat to ‘go halvies’ on a freshly-unveiled $400 million policing partnership with Pacific nations.
The Pacific Policing Initiative, an Australia-funded policing scheme to be rolled out over the next five years, was endorsed on Wednesday by Pacific leaders attending the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum.
Among the initiative’s key elements are multi-country police units, four training centres across the region and a Brisbane-based coordination hub.
Mr Albanese was casually chatting to US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell on the sidelines of the PIF when he made the comments, giving a rare behind-the-scenes look at international diplomacy.
‘Well, we had a cracker today getting the Pacific Policing Initiative through,’ the Prime Minister said.
‘It’s so important. It will make such a difference.’
Mr Campbell, a senior official in the Biden administration, praised the PPI, calling it ‘fantastic’ and ‘great’.
‘I talked with Kevin about it,’ he said, referring to Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd.
The Australian Prime Minister was casually chatting to US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell (pictured) on the sidelines of the PIF when he made the comments, giving a rare behind-the-scenes look at international diplomacy
The Pacific Policing Initiative (PPI), an Australia-funded policing scheme to be rolled out over the next five years, was endorsed on Wednesday by Pacific leaders attending the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum
‘So you know we were going to do something (but) he asked us not to, so we did not.
‘We’ve given you the lane. So take the lane.’
‘You can go us halvies on the cost if you like,’ Mr Albanese quipped back with laugh and a pat on the back prompting a chuckle from the US official.
‘It will only cost you… a bit,’ he added.
The video was recorded by New Zealand journalist Lydia Lewis and posted on social media.
At the end of the footage, Pacific Minister Pat Conroy chastised the journalist for filming the exchange, saying: ‘Oh! Come on, Lydia.’
On Thursday morning, Mr Albanese accused the Kiwi journalist of behaving unethically and filming him without his consent.
‘It was a private conversation, a jovial conversation and a friendly one,’ Mr Albanese said, describing Campbell as a ‘mate of mine’.
‘The video is what it is: it’s up to whoever did that to think about their own ethics when it comes to journalism.’
He added: ‘I myself, were I a journalist, would not do that and I know that most of you wouldn’t either.’
Mark Stevens, chief news officer at RNZ told Daily Mail Australia it ‘stands by its reporter and its reporting’.
‘Having spoken to our reporter, there is nothing to suggest they acted unethically or outside of our rigorous editorial policies,’ Mr Stevens said.
Pacific leaders have hailed the PPI as a show of unity and shared responsibility, and is a major strategic win for Canberra as it navigates China’s increasing assertiveness in the region.
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