Defence Minister Wouldn’t Confirm If Solomons’ US Naval Ship Ban Extends to Australia

Protestors outside the Parliament House building during the Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's press conference in Honiara, Solomons Islands, on April 24, 2019. Robert Taupongi/AFP via Getty Images

Defence Minister Richard Marles did not confirm whether a recent ban on U.S. naval ship visits to the Solomon Islands extended to Australian vessels.

On Aug. 29, the U.S. Embassy in Canberra revealed that the Solomon Islands had notified U.S. authorities of a “moratorium” on all naval visits pending updates to its “protocol procedures.”