First deployment under Pacific Policing Initiative begins

THE Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Peter Shanel Agovaka, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other Pacific leaders gathered on Friday 25 October to mark the first deployment of the new Pacific Police Support Group, part of the Pacific Policing Initiative (PPI), backed by Australia and endorsed by Pacific Island Forum leaders in August 2024.

This was announced in a statement from the Australian High Commission on Thursday.

More than 40 police officers from 11 Pacific countries are part of the deployment, providing security support for Samoa’s hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, including officers of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF).

The Pacific Police Support Group is the new multi-country police capability ready to respond to emergencies or assist during major events, at the request of a Pacific Island Forum Government.

The PPI is a Pacific-led initiative designed to strengthen policing capacity and coordination in the region. 

“Two months since the Pacific Policing Initiative was endorsed by Pacific leaders, we are seeing it deliver for the region at CHOGM 2024,” Prime Minister Albanese said in the statement.

“This is about Pacific security, delivered by the Pacific, in support of Pacific sovereignty,” he added.

Australia has committed approximately AUD 400 million (SBD 2.24 billion) over five years to ensure the Pacific Policing Initiative delivers on the agreement by leaders that the security of the Pacific is the shared responsibility of the Pacific family.