Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the prime minister and his Solomon Islands counterpart would discuss important regional issues amid concerns about Honiara’s relationship with Beijing.

Such concerns include threats to ban foreign journalists critical of the Chinese government.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare in Canberra on Thursday, with no joint press conference held afterwards.

Dr Chalmers said the face-to-face was “an important opportunity … about all of the issues we confront”.

“You can anticipate from that challenges in the region and the broader geopolitics that we all confront, particularly in our neighbourhood, will be something they’ll discuss,” he told reporters before the meeting.

Mr Sogavare’s visit follows a blistering public rebuff of the Australian offer to fund his country’s national poll.

The prime minister announced plans to push back the election until 2024, arguing his country couldn’t afford to pay for the election as well as the upcoming Pacific Games next year.

He labelled the Australian offer as foreign interference and “an assault on our parliamentary democracy”.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham branded the delaying of the Solomons election and rejection of Australia’s help as disappointing.

But he welcomed the engagement with Mr Sogavare off the back of the Solomon Islands prime minister’s visit to the US and dialogue with President Joe Biden.

“All dialogue is positive,” Senator Birmingham told ABC radio.

Tensions in the Indo-Pacific have soared after the Solomon Islands signed a security pact with China earlier this year, with concerns it could lead to Beijing establishing a military base.

In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Albanese said Australia and the Solomon Islands had a “strong security partnership, based on decades-long policing and maritime co-operation”.

“As members of the Pacific family, we are committed to working together to face our shared challenges,” he said.

“I look forward to engaging with prime minister Sogavare on building a strong and prosperous Pacific region, based on principles of transparency, respect and partnership.”

Mihai Sora, Research Fellow in the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program, said reaction in the Pacific region was in response to China’s increasing presence in the political and security space.

“We’ve seen a concerted effort on the part of Australia to reinvigorate its relationships with all Pacific countries, certainly prioritising Solomon Islands,” he told Sky News.

“It is a very difficult relationship to get right.”

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute also warned Beijing is attempting to influence public discussion in the Pacific nation through propaganda and information suppression.

Its new report accused Beijing of pushing a “fabricated narrative” about Australia, the United States and Taiwan, instigating riots in the Solomon Islands in November 2021.

Opposition home affairs spokeswoman Karen Andrews said Australia had maintained close ties with the Solomons.

“When the coalition was in government, we actually did a lot of work to support the Solomon Islands,” she said.

“We made sure that when there was another uprising not so long ago there was support in place from the Australian Federal Police.”

But Ms Andrews said Australia couldn’t turn a blind eye to “what China’s actions have been and will continue to be in the Pacific”.

– AAP