Australia to take South Pacific leaders to UK royal funeral

ABC News:

CANBERRA, Australia — Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tuvalu have accepted Australia’s help to fly representatives to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and other British Commonwealth island leaders could take up the offer, Australia’s prime minister said Wednesday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said all 10 former British colonies in the Pacific region had been offered help.

One of those, New Zealand, sent a delegation to London on Wednesday headed by Prime Minister Jacinta Ardern and including Māori King Kiingi Tūheitia without Australian help.

Albanese has said he did not want leaders from remote island nations in the Australian region to miss out on the London state funeral on Monday because of logistical problems.

“We offered passage to senior representatives from all 10 Pacific countries which are Commonwealth members,” Albanese told reporters. “Final lists are being settled. To date, four countries have accepted.”

Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Vanuatu could yet take up Australia’s offer.

Albanese plans to leave Australia on Thursday with an eclectic delegation including racehorse trainer Chris Waller and wheelchair tennis star Dylan Alcott. They are among 10 “everyday citizens” who have contributed to local communities that Buckingham Palace had invited.

A controversial inclusion in the delegation is Australia’s most decorated living veteran and alleged Afghan war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith.

The former Special Air Service Regiment corporal is suing three newspapers in the Federal Court for defamation over articles he alleges depicted him as a criminal who broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement in Afghanistan.

Asked whether Roberts-Smith attending the funeral was appropriate when the court’s verdict was still months away, Albanese replied that the Palace had invited all winners of the Victoria Cross, the highest military honor in the Commonwealth.

“These are decisions that were made objectively. The Palace has invited all Victoria Cross recipients and that’s the basis of the invitation,” Albanese said.

The Solomons’ acceptance of an Australian lift to London comes after months of strain in bilateral relations.

But Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare will not be attending the funeral. His government will be represented by Governor-General David Vunagi, the British monarch’s representative in the country, The Australian Financial Review newspaper reported.

Sogavare’s office did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment.

Sogavare in May accused the previous Australian government of threatening invasion after he signed a security pact with China that has raised fears of a Chinese naval base being established in the South Pacific.