Torres Strait Islander advocates have asked the Australian government to give them a formal role at next week’s Pre-COP meeting hosted in Fiji and Tuvalu, and to drop what they call a double standard on fossil fuels, Islands Business reported on 29 September. The meeting runs from 6 to 8 October and is the last set-piece gathering at which Pacific governments can settle a shared negotiating line before COP31 in Türkiye in November.
The request landed days after Islands Business reported that Canberra approved an extension of the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance Saraji coal mine in Queensland — described in that report as the 37th fossil fuel approval by the Labor government since 2022 — while Pacific leaders were meeting in Palau. The same outlet reported that first gas was pumped from the Beetaloo Basin fracking project in the Northern Territory while the Palau meeting was under way.
Key facts
- The Pre-COP runs from 6 to 8 October, hosted in Fiji with a leg in Tuvalu so delegates can see climate impacts first hand, Islands Business reported.
- Leaders from Thailand, the Maldives, Timor-Leste and Pacific countries were expected to attend, according to the same report.
- Torres Strait advocates say there is no clear role for them in the Pacific and global discussions, and want Australia to end fossil fuel expansion.
- Islands Business reported the Saraji coal mine extension was approved during the Palau leaders’ meeting, the 37th fossil fuel approval by Labor since 2022.
- Islands Business did not report a response from Canberra to the representation request; no Fijian government response appeared in the coverage reviewed for this article.
- On the Fiji side of the ledger, Energy Fiji Limited says fuel accounts for 52 per cent of its revenue, as this site reported.
What Torres Strait advocates are asking for
The Our Islands, Our Home campaign told the Torres News, quoted by Islands Business, that Australia should act in its own citizens’ and the region’s interests. Kulkalgal Traditional Owner Kabay Tamu said it was deeply disappointing there appeared to be no clear role for Torres Strait Islanders in the Pacific and global discussions, and that Australia has a responsibility to support their right to self-determination and stronger regional representation.
Two things are being asked for at once, on the reading of the Islands Business report: a place in the room in Fiji, and a change in Australian policy on new coal and gas. The first is a question of delegation composition, which Canberra controls. The second is a question of the negotiating text, which the Pre-COP as a whole controls.
Yessie Mosby, from Masig, whom Islands Business described as a Torres Strait 8 litigant, said he planned to travel to Fiji for the Pre-COP to advocate for the region at both that meeting and COP31. Islands Business did not report that he had been offered a formal seat. Saibai Koedal woman Barbs Ibuai, of the Torres Strait-led Climate Collective Zenadth Kes, said people were asking how Canberra could call itself a Pacific climate leader while expanding fossil fuel production.
Greens foreign affairs spokesperson Senator David Shoebridge told the Torres News that Torres Strait Islanders are on the frontline of climate collapse and that their knowledge must be central at international conferences.
Why this matters in Fiji
Fiji is hosting the meeting that is meant to fix the Pacific’s negotiating position for COP31, which puts two questions on Fijian soil at once: whether the region holds a line on ending fossil fuel expansion, and who gets to speak for the communities most exposed to the consequences.
Islands Business reported that Tuvalu’s climate minister Maina Vakafua Talia and Vanuatu’s Ralph Regenvanu challenged Australia’s stance at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Palau earlier this month, as a United Nations Environment Programme report warned the 1.5C warming target would be overshot within five years. Regenvanu told journalists in Palau the very least a country like Australia should do is stop future fossil fuel expansion, and start transitioning away. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at the Palau meeting that Pacific leaders respected Australia’s position and understood the transition could not happen overnight.
That is the unresolved disagreement Fiji inherits as host on 6 October, and it is why a request about who sits at the table is not a procedural footnote.
The Fiji-side case already on the record
The representation argument is not new to the Fiji leg of the process. In earlier reporting by this site, Fijian villagers took their relocation stories to Pre-COP31 preparations in Nadi, putting first-hand accounts of moving homes and burial grounds in front of officials shaping the agenda. Separately, a Macuata youth representative has argued villages should be climate implementers, not spectators — the same distinction between being consulted and being in the room that Tamu and Ibuai are drawing from the Torres Strait.
Taken together, those two strands of Fijian reporting and the Torres Strait request describe one recurring complaint about this process: the people named in the case for urgent action are not the people holding accreditation.
The economics Fiji brings to the table
For Fiji, the fossil fuel question at the Pre-COP is not only diplomatic. This site has reported that Energy Fiji Limited says fuel accounts for 52 per cent of its revenue.
Two cautions about that figure, because it is easy to over-read. It is a utility revenue share, not a measure of Fiji’s total fuel imports, and it was reported by EFL in the context of its own renewables shift rather than as a comment on COP negotiations. Analysis by this site, not a claim by EFL: a revenue base that large tied to imported fuel is the practical reason a Pacific demand that producer countries stop expanding supply cannot be separated from the question of who pays for replacement generation in the countries making the demand.
What is missing from the public record is the number that would settle the argument. In the coverage reviewed for this report, neither EFL nor the Fijian government has published an estimate of what an end to global fossil fuel expansion would mean for Fiji’s fuel purchase costs, its tariffs, or the capital it needs for renewable generation. No Fijian finance or energy official is quoted in the Islands Business report on the Torres Strait request. Until such a figure is published — or a Fijian minister is asked for one at the Pre-COP itself — the Fiji-specific cost of the line the region is being urged to hold remains unquantified, and this report will not estimate it.
Open questions before 6 October
- Whether the Australian government grants Torres Strait Islanders any formal role at the Pre-COP. Islands Business did not report a response from Canberra to the request.
- Whether the Fijian government, as host, takes a position on Torres Strait participation. No Fijian government response was reported in the coverage reviewed for this article.
- Whether Mosby’s stated plan to travel to Fiji results in any speaking role, observer status, or only an informal presence.
- Whether the Pre-COP outcome document names an end to fossil fuel expansion, the specific demand made by Tuvalu, Vanuatu and the Torres Strait campaigners.
- Whether Fijian officials put a cost or financing figure on that demand while hosting.
- Whether further Australian fossil fuel approvals are issued during the Fiji and Tuvalu meetings, as Islands Business reported happened during the Palau leaders’ week.
This report is based on Islands Business’s 29 September story, which quotes reporting by the Torres News, together with this site’s earlier reporting from Nadi, Macuata and on Energy Fiji Limited. Where a claim comes from a single outlet, that outlet is named in the sentence; where a judgement is ours, it is labelled as analysis. A separate ABC investigation published on 30 September into fossil-fuel-sponsored education programs in Australian schools is a distinct story and is treated separately rather than folded into this one.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where is the Pre-COP being held?
Islands Business reported the Pre-COP runs from 6 to 8 October, hosted in Fiji with a leg in Tuvalu so delegates can see climate impacts first hand. Leaders from Thailand, the Maldives, Timor-Leste and Pacific countries were expected to attend. The meeting is intended to co-ordinate strategy before COP31 in Türkiye in November.
Why are Torres Strait Islanders asking for a role at the Fiji Pre-COP?
Islands Business, quoting the Torres News, reported that the Our Islands, Our Home campaign says there appears to be no clear role for Torres Strait Islanders in the Pacific and global discussions. Kulkalgal Traditional Owner Kabay Tamu called that deeply disappointing and said Australia has a responsibility to support Islanders’ right to self-determination and stronger regional representation. Saibai Koedal woman Barbs Ibuai said people were asking how Canberra could call itself a Pacific climate leader while expanding fossil fuel production.
Who from the Torres Strait plans to travel to Fiji?
Islands Business reported that Yessie Mosby, from Masig, whom it described as a Torres Strait 8 litigant, said he planned to travel to Fiji for the Pre-COP to advocate for the region at both that meeting and COP31. Islands Business did not report that he had been given any formal place in a delegation.
What fossil fuel decisions are the advocates pointing to?
Islands Business reported that Canberra approved an extension of the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance Saraji coal mine in Queensland while Pacific leaders were meeting in Palau, describing it in that report as the 37th fossil fuel approval by the Labor government since 2022. The same outlet reported that first gas was pumped from the Beetaloo Basin fracking project in the Northern Territory during the Palau meeting.
What has Australia said in response?
Islands Business reported that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the Palau leaders’ meeting that Pacific leaders respected Australia’s position and understood the transition could not happen overnight. Islands Business did not report a response from Canberra to the Torres Strait request for a role at the Pre-COP, and no Fijian government response appeared in the coverage reviewed for this article.
How does the fossil fuel argument intersect with Fiji’s own energy costs?
This site has reported that Energy Fiji Limited says fuel accounts for 52 per cent of its revenue. That is a utility revenue figure, not a national import bill, and neither EFL nor the Fijian government has published a costing of what an end to global fossil fuel expansion would mean for Fiji’s fuel purchases in the coverage reviewed for this report.
Which Pacific ministers have pushed Australia hardest on this?
Islands Business reported that Tuvalu’s climate minister Maina Vakafua Talia and Vanuatu’s Ralph Regenvanu challenged Australia’s stance at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Palau earlier this month. Regenvanu told journalists in Palau that the very least a country like Australia should do is stop future fossil fuel expansion and start transitioning away.
