Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt is expected to join Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and fellow Pacific leaders in Brisbane on Wednesday for high-level talks on regional security, trade and economic growth before attending the State of Origin decider, according to the Australian Associated Press.
Mr Albanese will hold bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape and Tonga Prime Minister Lord Fakafanua as Australia seeks to strengthen its regional influence amid growing strategic competition with China.
The Australian Government said the meetings follow Mr Albanese's visits to Fiji and the Solomon Islands and coincide with Australia's mutual defence treaty with Papua New Guinea coming into force. They also come after Australia signed new security agreements with Fiji and Vanuatu as Canberra continues to strengthen its engagement across the Pacific.
The leaders are then expected to attend a Pacific rugby league event before watching the deciding State of Origin match between New South Wales and Queensland at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.
The meeting comes two days after China launched a long-range ballistic missile carrying a dummy warhead into the Pacific Ocean, with international media reporting the splashdown occurred about 1,900 kilometres from Samoa near the Exclusive Economic Zone of Tuvalu.
