By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia said it would commit A$7 million for a Pacific rugby league championship, in a “football diplomacy” move seen as boosting Australia’s soft power amid competition for influence with China.
Women’s and men’s teams from seven countries will compete in the Pacific Rugby League Championships, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday.
Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Tonga will field teams. The first games will be played in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea this year, between October and November.
“Geography makes us neighbours, but through sport we build strong and lasting ties across the Pacific family,” Albanese said.
In a speech announcing the championship, Albanese noted that the Pacific Islands Forum regional leaders meeting in Fiji last year coincided with a high-profile rugby league match between New South Wales and Queensland states – watched by the leaders, who were wearing team jerseys.
About half of players in Australia’s National Rugby League competition are of Pasifika heritage, said Pat Conroy, the minister for international development and the Pacific.
Conroy has noted “football diplomacy” in the Pacific was an area where Australia held an edge over China.
The Australian government has funded a PNG team in the Queensland state rugby competition, and a Fijian team in the NSW state competition, he said.
Albanese said that the Pacific Championship will showcase women’s rugby league, and that the Matildas had shown how women’s sport can inspire nations.
The success of Matildas player Mary Fowler, who is of PNG heritage and will play in the World Cup quarter final on Wednesday, has been celebrated across the Pacific.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
