Australia must "step up" its environmental action as the nation pushes for a meeting of world leaders in the Pacific in the wake of a failed bid for a UN climate conference.
Anthony Albanese has kept Australia "in the field" for hosting the 2026 COP31 climate summit, but has said the government wouldn't mount a challenge if Turkey is the preferred nation.
But the prime minister has sought to secure something for the Pacific, arguing a meeting of world leaders should still be held in the region.
"If Australia is not chosen, if Turkiye (Turkey) is chosen, we wouldn’t seek to veto that," he told reporters in WA on Tuesday.
"What we would seek to do is to ensure that the Pacific benefited from that, through measures, potentially like a leaders' meeting to be held in the Pacific."
If a solution isn't reached between Canberra and Ankara by the end of this week, the 2026 summit would default to the German city of Bonn, as set out by the rules.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Mr Albanese he did not want to share the event.
Independent senator David Pocock said regardless of the outcome, Australia needs to "step up" on climate change.
"We need to have a safe climate here, to have a safe climate in the Pacific, and we have Pacific neighbours urging us to show more of a leadership role on the international stage," he told ABC News Breakfast on Wednesday.
The cost to host the conference in Adelaide in 2026 has been priced at up to $2 billion.
Nationals leader David Littleproud slammed Labor for being "out of touch" during a cost-of-living crisis.
"It's about time the prime minister forgot about strutting around on the world stage and started thinking about Australians, and it shouldn't be at Australians' expense," he told Sky News.
