Military support being ramped up to Pacific countries in the Solomons neighbourhood.
It was in March this year that Australia and New Zealand reaffirmed their commitment to mutual commitment to Defence cooperation in the South Pacific.
Following a meeting in Adelaide of both countries' defence ministers, New Zealand's Ron Mark and Australia's Christopher Pyne released a joint statement on defence cooperation in the Pacific region.
Their discussions highlighted the increase in focus of both governments on the Pacific Islands region.
The ministers said their two countries intended to work more together in a manner consistent with the priorities outlined in the Boe Declaration.
The declaration, signed at the pacific Forum summit last year, identified climate change as the single biggest threat to regional security.
The three focus areas agreed under the Joint Statement were for Australia and New Zealand to:
- Have the collective ability to improve security outcomes in the Pacific;
- Maintain strong, interoperable forces and capabilities to respond to requests for security assistance from the Pacific countries; and
- Enhance Pacific resilience and self-reliance through the two countries' respective capacity building programmes.
Today (Tuesday) it has been reported by Radio New Zealand that Australia is to set up a Pacific Support Force to work with key regional neighbours.
The news relay said:
(Quote)
“Australia is pushing to secure its status as the security partner of choice for Pacific nations, forming a new expeditionary training force to work with key regional neighbours, including Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Vanuatu.
“The Australian newspaper reports the Pacific Support Force is being set up in Brisbane as part of the army's 1st Division.
“The move to ramp up military support to Pacific neighbours comes as China lifts its presence in the region.
“The new Pacific force was revealed in a Defence brief, obtained by the Australian under freedom of information laws.
“The heavily redacted briefing, known as the Defence "Blue Book", also reveals the ADF is "considering options for a dedicated vessel" to support increased engagement with regional navies.
“It said the ADF was in the "very early stages of scoping options" for the proposed Pacific support vessel.”
“The Blue Book said the ADF would consult Pacific nations on their military training needs, but packages could include engineering, communications, surveillance, maritime security and medical training.”
In another part of the Pacific, the US Coast Guard will deploy three new vessels to Guam as it steps up its presence in the Pacific.
The Coast Guard's commandant, Admiral Karl Schultz, said the ships will arrive in the next two to three years, providing for more frequent and longer patrols.
Admiral Schultz said the Coast Guard will expand its permanent presence in the Pacific through more expeditions.
"We are doubling down in Oceania," he said in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday.
"Our increased capability and capacity will allow for more frequent and longer patrols to protect the Exclusive Economic Zone from illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing and the threats that those activities bring, as well as increasing drug trafficking threats to the region."
Admiral Karl Schultz said two patrol boats will also be deployed to Samoa in the next month, as part of a 30-day mission dubbed Operation AIGA.
Sources: Radio New Zealand.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
