Michael West Media · AAP · Wednesday 3 June 2026
Solomon Islands PM Matthew Wale meets Albanese as Canberra pushes for a security treaty, with the visit framed entirely through the contest with China.
Thirty years we treated the Solomons like a spare room we never bothered to visit. Beijing puts a deposit down and suddenly Canberra's at the front door with flowers and a treaty already drafted. Wale's first trip abroad and we're measuring him for an alliance. He's worked out what the whole Pacific knows now — the fastest way to get Australia's attention is to take Beijing's call.