Australia launches $400m regional policing scheme in major Pacific win

Australia has officially launched a Pacific Policing Initiative (PPI) worth hundred of millions of dollars, representing a major win for Canberra as it fends off China’s growing assertiveness in the region.

The PPI, endorsed by leaders at the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga, is a $400m pledge from the Albanese government to build up policing capabilities across the region over the next five years.

Senior police officials from across the Pacific gathered on Tuesday for the launch in Brisbane, which host’s the initiative’s headquarters and one of four regional training hubs.

“This is about Pacific security, delivered by the Pacific, in support of Pacific sovereignty,” Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said in a statement.

“The Pinkenba Hub will support the functioning of the PPI’s Regional Centres of Excellence and Pacific Police Support Group by housing and training Pacific participants.”

Among the initiative’s commitments are multi-country police units, including a rapid response unit, and three training centres in smaller Pacific neighbours.

Papua New Guinea (PNG), Fiji and Samoa have been announced as the countries to host the training centres.

PNG police chief David Manning said the PPI was a “clear, effective and agile mechanism through which we can support our Pacific family in times of need”.

PNG’s remote highlands have long been plagued by severe tribal violence.

The violence has only escalated in recent years, as tribes get their hands on high-powered weapons brought into the country by mercenaries and drug traders.

Mr Manning said the rapid response unit, dubbed the Pacific Police Support Group, would be a useful tool to managing PNG’s law-enforcement challenges.

“We’re close to completing the guiding legal framework around Pacific Island countries being able to tap into this support,” he said.

The PPI comes amid increasing Chinese assertiveness in the Pacific.

China has been courting Australia’s smaller Pacific neighbours for years, offering cheap infrastructure and debt-trapping loans.

Increasingly, Beijing has been spruiking security offerings, raising alarm bells in Canberra.

The Solomon Islands signed a security pact with China back in 2022.

Uniformed Chinese police have also popped up in Kiribati, with both Kiribati and Chinese officials keeping it under wraps until Reuters exposed it in February.

Most recently, China earlier this week announced a fresh assistance package for Vanuatu’s security forces.