Climate change might have been top of the agenda for Commonwealth leaders at a days-long meeting in Samoa but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese highlighted a joint police force between Australia and the Pacific Islands.
As part of the Pacific Policing Initiative, Australia is spending $400 million to set up a multinational force with Pacific counterparts, which will be able to deploy across the region.
More than 40 police officers from 11 Pacific countries are part of the scheme and provided security support for Samoa’s hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
“In the Pacific, the security of any one of us, matters to all of us,” Mr Albanese said on Saturday.
“That’s what family means. That’s the Pacific way – and it’s the right way forward.”
The initiative has three pillars: police training “centres of excellence” in the Pacific, a multi-country police force ready to deploy across the region, and a Brisbane-based co-ordination hub.
Mr Albanese described it as “security of the Pacific, designed for the Pacific, led and delivered by the Pacific”.
While the initiative is on its face about strengthening security in the Pacific, it has a broader geopolitical significance, as Australia dukes it out with China for influence in the region.
Beijing has made efforts to expand its own policing and security footprint in the region, signing an agreement with the Solomon Islands in 2022.
When asked on Saturday whether his claim that Pacific nations need to look after neighbour’s security means they should be wary of the influence of China in this region, the Prime Minister only said:
“This is about the Pacific family looking after each other.”
The summit bringing together the heads of 56 Commonwealth nations is significant, with the meeting held for the first time in the region.
Pacific leaders have used the opportunity to remind their counterparts of the existential threat they face from rising sea levels.
Mr Albanese is eager to keep the Pacific Island nations on side after Australia copped a rebuke from some leaders critical of Australia’s ongoing use of coal and gas.
A report released by Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo at the meeting branded fossil fuel expansion a “death sentence” and pointed the finger at Australia, Canada and the UK for emitting a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gases.
Mr Albanese said Australia was committed to transitioning to net zero but that they could not just “flick a switch and act immediately”.
“We need to make sure that energy security is prioritised in order to make sure that we have that support going forward,” he said.
King Charles, who is presiding over the meeting for the first time since taking the throne, also reiterated the need for climate action.
Mr Albanese was asked on Saturday whether Australia supports protecting thirty per cent of the world’s oceans by 2030.
“The Oceans Declaration is important, and yesterday at the leaders discussion, a range of national leaders expressed their support for that,” the prime minister said.
He suggested it would be one of the initiatives coming out of the forum but added: “We need to make sure that we provide protection on land, but also on water to mitigate its impact.”
The program concludes on Saturday at the beachside resort town of Mulifanua on the north-western tip of the island of Upolu following an event showcasing the Pacific Policing Initiative.
