Anthony Albanese 'very confident' China won't build military base in Solomon Islands

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he is "very confident" China will not be allowed to build a military base on the Solomon Islands.

Speaking on Today, the prime minister said he had a productive meeting with his Solomons counterpart, Manasseh Sogavare, over dinner the previous night.

"One of the things we need to do is build personal relations between Australia and our friends in the Pacific," he said.

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"We need to be prepared to listen to what they have to say."

He said he didn't pressure Sogavare to tear up his security deal with China.

"They're a sovereign nation," he said.

"We've got to respect that. 

"But what we need to do as well is make clear what Australia's interests are and obviously the interests of Australia would not be served by having a military base so close to where Australia is."

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Speaking to The Guardian, Sogavare said the world needed to "trust us" that they would not allow a Chinese military base.

"The moment we establish a foreign military base, we immediately become an enemy," he said.

"And we also put our country and our people as targets for potential military strikes."

Albanese is currently meeting with various other Pacific leaders during the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji.

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As well as meeting with Sogavare, he also met with the leaders from Samoa, Micronesia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

In his meeting with Albanese, Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama urged stronger action on climate change, while acknowledging the current position is an improvement on that of the previous government.

"Australia's new climate pledge is a step-up that Fiji has long sought," he said.

"But out of the duty I owe every young person in the Pacific, I have urged (Albanese) to go further for our family's shared future by aligning Australia's commitment to the 1.5-degree target."

Albanese watched State of Origin last night with various Pacific leaders. He noted that most of the others watching with him were cheering on Queensland.

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