16 Feb 2011

Australia and Solomon Islands agree to move on

7:28 am on 16 February 2011

The Australian and Solomon Islands governments have issued a joint press statement saying they've agreed to put behind them a report which accused Australia of backing opposition efforts to topple the Prime Minister.

Last week the Prime Minister's office claimed an intelligence report showed Australia had offered government MPs money to cross the floor.

The report said this was because the Australian government was unhappy with Prime Minister Danny Philip's announcement of a five-year exit strategy for the Regional Assistance Mission.

The Australian High Commission in Honiara dismissed the report as baseless.

The joint statement says the Solomon Islands government now agrees there is no evidence to substantiate the allegations.

In the statement Mr Philip and the Australian High Commissioner Frank Ingruber say they've agreed to move on and focus on their common agenda of promoting stability, economic development and the welfare of all Solomon Islanders.