Pacific Islands endorse $271 mln regional policing plan

28/8/2024 13:32

        Leaders of several Pacific Islands said on Wednesday they have endorsed an Australian-funded A$400 million ($271 million) plan to improve police training and create a mobile regional policing unit, as Canberra looks to reduce China's security footprint in the area.
        
        The leaders of Tonga, Fiji, Palau and Papua New Guinea said the programme would assist island states to tackle drug trafficking, illegal fishing and economic crimes across a region that spans millions of kilometres of ocean.
        
        Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape told reporters in Tonga, "The entire Pacific is the biggest unpoliced space in planet earth."
        
        He said, Papua New Guinea, with assistance from Australia, will host the first of four police training centres to be built across the region under the Pacific Policing Initiative.
        
        The initiative will create a multi-country policing force that can be deployed to countries in the region in the event of major events or crises.