![Australia Defence Force personnel in Solomon Islands. [Australian Defence Force]](/images/stories/ramsi-parade.jpg "Australia Defence Force personnel in Solomon Islands. [Photo: Australian Defence Force]")
Radio Australia: Australia's Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign and Pacific Island Affairs, Richard Marles, says the RAMSI mission in Solomon Islands can be used as a global model for foreign interventions.
"It has been a success story in terms of Australia's role in the Pacific," Mr Marles said.
"But I think more than that it has been a success story in terms of the Pacific region, the way in which the Pacific has come together, to deal with what was a very difficult situation.
"It really has almost been a model for the world, and I think now what we need to concentrate on is transitioning from RAMSI being here to a more normal bilateral relationship."
Troops from Australia, New Zealand, PNG and Tonga have been in the Solomons since 2003 when the Pacific Islands Forum sanctioned a regional assistance mission amid rising violence.
Mr Marles spoke to Radio Australia's Pacific Beat program from Honiara, where he is discussing the withdrawal of troops from the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), with Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo.
But Mr Marles warned there is still more work to do.
"The positive legacy of RAMSI only exists if we do see the Solomon Islands standing on its own two feet, and there is enormous progress down that path," he said.
- Radio Australia
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