Moving on from China, our ‘handsome boy’/PM Anthony Albanese has landed in the Cook Islands for the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), where he’ll continue to position Australia as the region’s reliable mate. On the agenda: climate change, and specifically Australia’s policies. Pacific elders are calling for Australia to phase out fossil fuels and cough up some serious cash for climate funds if it wants support for its bid to host the COP31 climate talks in 2026. Managing the rise of China is another issue, as it has been at previous meetings. And if you’re not a fan of cruises, spare a thought for Albanese, who will spend a part of the coming days on a boat with his fellow leaders motoring around a lagoon… We’re not saying that’s a factor in some big guns’ non-attendance, but the leaders of New Zealand, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea aren’t attending the PIF this year.