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Bishop blames Labor for Pacific mishap

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has blamed a "shocking blunder" by Labor for an unfortunate error over an island in the Pacific that lies underwater.

Julie Bishop
Julie Bishop Source: AAP

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Source: AAP


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Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has blamed her political mishap over a sunken island in the Pacific on a "shocking blunder" by her opposition counterpart.

Ms Bishop arrived in Paris on Monday (AEDT) for the second week of United Nations climate talks but the early focus was on a potential tiff with the Marshall Islands.

Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Tony de Brum hopes to confront Ms Bishop over her mocking comments about claims one of his country's islands was already underwater.

Ms Bishop brandished a photograph in parliament last week showing houses, gardens and picnic tables on Eneko to dispute Tanya Plibersek's claim it had disappeared due to rising sea levels.

But Ms Bishop had the wrong island - her Labor counterpart had been referring to Anebok and the transcript of the ABC interview had misnamed it.

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On Tuesday (AEDT), the foreign minister took a dig at Ms Plibersek for authorising the transcript.

"Let's get some facts on the record because some seem to have a great deal of difficulty dealing with facts," she told reporters in Paris.

"It transpires (the transcript) contains a shocking blunder.

"If she makes mistakes in her transcripts, I am not her subeditor."

The foreign minister expects to hold several meetings with Pacific Island officials throughout the week, including with Mr de Brum.

Prior to Ms Bishop's arrival, Mr de Brum issued a warning to Australians however also excused the saga as an easy mistake by English speaking nationals.

"Australians still haven't learned that they should not mess with the islands and make jokes about the islands and their plight with climate change," he told reporters in Paris on Saturday.

Ms Plibersek's office wasn't immediately available for comment due to different time zones.


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