Australia's opposition has warned that the government risks offending its Pacific island neighbours by suspending all ministerial contact with Papua New Guinea.
The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, has banned PNG Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare from visiting Australia and said a planned ministerial forum between Australia and PNG at the end of the year was also in doubt.
The move is in protest over the escape by the Solomon's suspended Attorney General, Julian Moti, from PNG.
Mr Moti, who is wanted in Australia for alleged child sex crimes, was flown to the Solomon Islands on a PNG military aeroplane after sheltering in the Solomons' high commission for over a week.
But the AAP news agency quotes Australia's opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd as saying that resolving the matter was better left to private diplomacy.
He said relationships in the Pacific may start to spiral right out of control and if that happens, countries in the region may start to look elsewhere for other countries to help them with their security-related needs.
