Security in the South Pacific has proved to be one of the most enduring of Australia's security concerns. It was the subject of Australia's first substantial strategic policy initiative, when in 1888 Alfred Deakin took his concerns about French intrusion into Vanuatu to London (Wainwright 2003: 13). Since then, the South Pacific has played an important role in Australian security thinking. Notably during the Second World War in the Pacific and through Australia's responsibilities as a colonial power in Papua New Guinea until that country's independence in 1975. Australia was regarded as having been quite detached from the Pacific Islands during the post colonial period (Wainwright & White 2004: 10). However this period, until the beginning of the 21st century, was marked by numerous small scale Australian Defence Force (ADF) operations in the region. The notable cases were in Vanuatu in 1980 and 1988 as well Fiji in 1987 (Breen 2008: 44–45). The ADF also played an important role in peacekeeping missions in Bougainville during this period.
Australia has always placed an important emphasis on security in the South Pacific because of the concern that Australia's security could be undermined by anarchy in these states, or by them falling under the control of potentially hostile governments (Wainwright & White 2004: 14). Currently these perceptions translate into ongoing defence, security, economic, aid, environmental and humanitarian activities (Firth 2008: 1).
Defence White Papers 2000 and 2009
The security of Australia's immediate neighbourhood which it shares with Indonesia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and the island countries of the South Pacific has ubiquitously been listed as the second most important defence priority behind the ability to defend Australia from a direct military attack (Australian Government Department of Defence 2000 & 2009). The White Papers emphasise that unstable neighbours could lead to a strategic environment that might be inimical to Australia's interests (Australian Government Department of Defence 2000 & 2009).
Expectations of Australia
Australia considers itself as having significant responsibilities as a leader and regional power to ensure a stable and secure South Pacific (Australian Government Department of Defence 2000: 43–44). Australia is also expected by its global partners to be a regional leader and is judged by how well it fulfils this role (Firth 2008: 1; Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 1997: 65). In this role as a regional leader, Australia has assumed a role as the de facto security guarantor across the Melanesian Arc (Dobell 2011: 1 & 6). In addition, Australia realises that while the problems in its neighbourhood may not be 'world shaping problems', however, if it does not take the lead in addressing regional issues someone else might and this would be detrimental to Australia's ability to influence the region (Lyon 2008: 2).
The Arc of Instability
The term ‘Arc of Instability’ is commonly used to refer to the region to Australia's immediate North and East and it is a term that has appeared in numerous Australian Government reports (Rumley 2006: 17). Australian Government fears were that the failing states in the South Pacific, unable to uphold the rule of law or control their borders, could make Australia more vulnerable to transnational criminal operations and perhaps terrorism (Wainwright 2003: 13–14). In 2003, the then Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, directly alluded to the possibility of the unstable situation in Solomon Islands posing 'insidious and direct threats to Australia' and spoke about the possibility of intervention (Downer 2003). There was also concern that events in one part of the 'Arc of Instability' could be contagious for regional neighbours (Wainwright & White 2004: 14). The importance that Australia places on a secure immediate neighbourhood, is demonstrated by the inclusion in this strategy of the protection of Timor Leste, political stability in Melanesia (including maintenance of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI)) and close defence ties with Papua New Guinea (Bergin & Herr 2011: 32). Australia is cognizant that 'non-conventional' security threats pose problems not only to the islands but the threat that they pose a threat to 'Australia through the region' (Bergin & Herr 2011: 32). While transnational, 'non-conventional' security threats are the main security concern for Australia pertaining to the South Pacific, Australian defence and security strategists have considered the possibility of weak states in the South Pacific becoming bases from which hostile powers could launch conventional military attacks on Australia (Lyon 2007: 9; Wainwright 2003: 15).
A June 2000 coup in the Solomon Islands led to the formation of an Australian led International Peace Monitoring Team (IPMT) to support efforts to preserve peace between warring ethnic groups. The IPMT – which included Defence (civilian and military) participation – helped oversee an end to inter-ethnic conflict and withdrew in June 2002 (Australian Government Department of Defence 2003: 21). After persistent pleas from the Solomon Island Government for Australian intervention, following a renewal of inter-ethnic conflict, Australia brought Pacific Forum Foreign Ministers to Sydney and said it would lead a regional intervention force, RAMSI. This was backed by the Pacific Islands Forum's Biketawa declaration of 2000, authorising regional action in the case of security crises arising in member countries (Firth 2008: 10).
In 2003, the then Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, emphasised that intervention into Solomon Islands was in Australia's national interest because failed states in the region could become safe havens for transnational criminals and terrorists (Breen 2008: 50). Perceptions that the Solomon Islands was on the brink of becoming a failed state, and the threat that this could pose for Australia's national interests, provided the primary rationale for the Australian led intervention (Allen 2011: 4). This rationale was heavily influenced by broader shifts in the international strategic environment following the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and the subsequent US led war on terror (Allen 2011: 4). The decision to launch the RAMSI initiative in 2003 marked a sharp departure from the policy paradigm of detachment which had shaped Australia's approach to its Pacific Island neighbours in the post colonial period (Wainwright & White 2004: 10).
On 24 July 2003, the first RAMSI personnel were deployed to Solomon Islands. Personnel numbers peaked at about 2250 in September /October 2003, comprising 1800 military (1500 of which were ADF personnel), 300 police, and civilian advisers (Fullilove 2006: 8). The military component was drawn down from late October 2003 in the wake of early successes in restoring security (Fullilove 2006: 8).
The Howard government redeployed troops to Solomon Islands in response to renewed unrest in Honiara in 2006 (Ayson 2007: 216). In 2006 Australia also worked with RAMSI partner New Zealand to deploy police and military personnel to assist the Tongan government's efforts to ensure security after riots in Nukuʻalofa (Ayson 2007: 216).
The police component, known as the Participating Police Force (PPF), has remained relatively constant in size, with the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Protective Service contributing about half its numbers, supplemented by officers from the Pacific states of New Zealand, PNG, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Nauru, Samoa, Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Cook Islands (Fullilove 2006 :8). The civilian element works in both line and advisory positions in Solomon Islands government agencies (Fullilove 2006: 8).
RAMSI's mission is to assist the Government of Solomon Islands in the maintenance of security, law and justice, economic governance and improving the machinery of government (Australian Government Department of Defence n.d.a). The main task for the military component is to be prepared to respond to incidents beyond the capabilities of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) and RAMSI's multi-national Participating Police Force (Australian Government Department of Defence n.d.a).
As of April 2012, initial talks began to determine a timetable for the withdrawal of the multinational military component of RAMSI, whilst maintaining the presence of the PPF (Radio Australia 2012).
Maritime security
Australia has several objectives in promoting regional maritime security. At a strategic level, it's about provisions of assistance to the Pacific Island states to promote influence in the region (Bateman & Bergin 2008: 56). A second objective is to assist in building a more stable regional environment that will prevent threats from arising from the region that are inimical to Australia's interests (Bateman & Bergin 2008: 56).
The Pacific Patrol Boat Project is said to be "the cornerstones of Australia's strategic influence in the region" (Bergin 2011:1). The project commenced in 1985 and twenty-two Pacific Class patrol boats have now been donated to twelve recipient countries (Bateman & Bergin 2008: 62). Through the PPBP, Australia provides financial, technical, logistics, maintenance, training and other support to 19 patrol boats across 11 Pacific Island countries (not including the three boats given to Fiji). Defence's support is underpinned by 25 Royal Australian Navymaritime surveillance and technical advisers located across the Pacific' (Australian Government Department of Defence 2011: 247).
The PPBP, supported by other measures designed to assist in the development of maritime security capacity, has been the feature of the Department of Defence's cooperation in the South Pacific. Australia's aim through these projects is to assists its neighbours 'to develop the capacity to protect their maritime resources and enforce sovereignty' (Australian Department of Defence 2009: 98). In 2010–11, the last patrol boat commenced a refit as part of the Defence-sponsored Life Extension Program which extends the life of the boats from 15 to 30 years. This program provides deep level maintenance to take the vessels through to their end of service life (Australian Department of Defence 2011: 247).
At the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in August 2009, the Australian Government announced it would undertake an assessment, in consultation with Pacific Island countries, of a new maritime security program to follow the PPBP (Australian Government Customs and Border Protection Service 2011: 107). The goal of the PMSP is to 'develop a more integrated maritime security system that builds on the successes of the past to effectively and efficiently meet the challenges of managing the Pacific maritime domain' (Australian Government Customs and Border Protection Service 2011: 107). The PMSP was originally slated to be overseen by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service but the responsibility for the program has recently been passed to the Department of Defence (Australian Government Department of Defence 2012).
Maritime surveillance
In addition to the PPBP, Australia makes other contributions to maritime surveillance and enforcement in the South Pacific. In 2009–2010, Australia supported seven successful regional maritime surveillance activities in the area (Bergin 2011: 2). Operation Solania, the ADF contribution to airborne maritime surveillance in the South Pacific, provides intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support to the Pacific Island countries (Australian Government Department of Defence n.d.b). The ADF contribution through Operation Solania is part of a wider maritime surveillance initiative with Australia's security partners in the region (the United States, New Zealand and France) through the regular Quadrilateral Defence Coordinating Group Talks (Bergin 2011: 2).
Regional security cooperation
Bi-lateral cooperation
Australia's bi-lateral security engagement with the island states of the South Pacific is predominantly based around the Defence Cooperation Program (DCP) which has a broad goal of 'enhancing the defence related capabilities of regional partner nations' (Australian Government Department of Defence 2011: 246). The DCP includes a provision of ADF advisers, training initiatives and bi-lateral exercises, capacity building initiatives, and equipment and infrastructure projects (Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability 2009). One of the preeminent DCP projects is the PPBP. Australia does not have any bilateral defence ties with Fiji, having suspended all defence activities with Fiji following the 2006 Fijian military attempt to overthrow the elected government, and is yet to reinstate them (Hufbauer et al. 2012: 9).
Multilateral cooperation
The main body through which Australia is involved in multilateral regional cooperation in the South Pacific is through the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). Australia is one of fifteen regional countries that are members of the organisation, with Fiji having been suspended since 2009 as a result of continuing martial law rule and human rights violations (Hiebert & Shearer 2012: 2). The PIF has taken 'an important lead in authenticating a regional approach by claiming a general policy mandate for security' (Bergin & Herr 2011: 36). Four PIF declarations provide a mandate for law enforcement and security initiatives:
-1992 Honiara Declaration on Law Enforcement Cooperation.
-1997 Aitutaki Declaration on Regional Security Cooperation
-2000 Biketawa Declaration
-2002 Nasonini Declaration on Regional Security (Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat n.d.)
The 2005 Pacific Plan has built on this mandate by incorporating security as one of its four pillars alongside economic growth, sustainable development and good governance (Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat 2007: 2). The PIF Secretariat has taken on some administrative responsibility for implementing these initiatives, most notably through the establishment of the Forum Regional Security Committee to undertake security assessments and facilitate information and intelligence sharing (Bergin & Herr 2011: 36). Australia is also engaged multilaterally with regional states through their participation in RAMSI and is engaged multilaterally with regional security partners through the Quadrilateral Defence Coordinating Group Talks.
Future of the relationship
Australia has made a commitment to continue its security relationship with the region with continued engagement through the development of the PMSP to follow on from the PPBP. With talks pertaining to the withdrawal of the military component of RAMSI underway, the nature of the ADF's presence in the South Pacific will change. Sometime between 2015 and 2020, Bougainville will vote on whether to secede from Papua New Guinea. Australia will likely play a role in the aftermath of the vote, no matter what the outcome is, this may include ADF intervention (Dobell 2011: 2).
Related Research Articles
The Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Papua New Guinea. It originated from the Australian Army land forces of the territory of Papua New Guinea before independence, coming into being in January 1973 and having its antecedents in the Pacific Islands Regiment. The PNGDF is a small force, numbering around 3,600 personnel, and consists of a Land Element, an Air Element and a Maritime Element. It is a joint force tasked with defending Papua New Guinea and its territories against external attack, as well as having secondary functions including national-building and internal security tasks.
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It has three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The ADF has a strength of just over 89,000 personnel and is supported by the Department of Defence and several other civilian agencies.
The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), also known as Operation Helpem Fren, Operation Anode and Operation Rata, was created in 2003 in response to a request for international aid by the Governor-General of Solomon Islands. Helpem Fren means "help a friend" in Solomon Islands Pidgin. The mission officially ended on 30 June 2017.
The Defence Strategic Policy and Intelligence Group (SP&I) of the Australian Government Department of Defence is responsible for defence diplomacy, strategic policy, international security, and military intelligence co-ordination and advice to the Prime Minister of Australia, Minister for Defence, Secretary of the Department of Defence, and Chief of the Defence Force. The Defence Strategic Policy and Intelligence Group is led by the Deputy Secretary for Strategic Policy and Intelligence and comprises three policy divisions and two intelligence agencies.
Defence Australia is a department of the Government of Australia charged with the responsibility to defend Australia and its national interests. Along with the Australian Defence Force (ADF), it forms part of the Australian Defence Organisation (ADO) and is accountable to the Commonwealth Parliament, on behalf of the Australian people, for the efficiency and effectiveness with which it carries out the Government's defence policy.
The Pacific class is a class of 22 patrol boats built by Australia and donated to twelve South Pacific countries. They were constructed between 1985 and 1997 and are operated by militaries, coast guards or police forces of twelve island nations. These boats are supported by the Pacific Patrol Boat Program and used primarily for maritime surveillance and fisheries protection.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is a defence and strategic policy think tank based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, founded by the Australian government, and funded by the Australian Department of Defence along with overseas governments, and defence and technology companies.
The Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC) is a university-based institute that is situated in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University. It is Australia's oldest-established centre for the study of strategic, defence and wider security issues and a leading regional think tank on these topics. The centre was established in 1966 by Professor T.B. Millar, then a senior fellow at the ANU's Department of International Relations, in order to "advance the study of Australian, regional, and global strategic and defence issues". The current head of SDSC is Brendan Taylor. Previous Heads include Emeritus Professor Paul Dibb and Professor Hugh White, who both also served as the Deputy Secretary for Strategy and Intelligence of the Department of Defence.
Defense of the Marshall Islands is the responsibility of the United States, but local police matters are handled by the Marshall Islands Police, the national police force, as well as several atoll or municipality-based departments. There are two police forces which function under the name Kwajalein Police, a municipal department known otherwise as Kalgov Police, in addition to law enforcement on the U.S. military base on Kwajalein Atoll separate from the Government of the Marshall Islands, which is handled by the Department of the Army Civilian Police from the United States. Previously, the law enforcement activity on the U.S. military installation was the responsibility of government contractor Alutiiq, LLC, which operated as “Kwajalein Police Department”, a government-owned, contractor operated entity. This operation transitioned to federal employees instead of the use of contractor-provided police officers under the administration of President Barack Obama, who directed federal agencies to review whether certain types of work should be reserved for federal employees as inherently governmental functions. While the law enforcement role on Kwajalein has transitioned to Department of the Army civilian police officers, who are federal employees, Alutiiq still remains on Kwajalein, as the “Security and Access Control Contractor”, providing security guard patrols, Customs/TSA services, marine patrol, and explosives/narcotics detection canines.
The Federated States of Micronesia's National Police is the small national police force of the Federated States of Micronesia and is a division of the FSM Department of Justice.
The Tuvalu Police Force is the national Police force of Tuvalu, it is headquartered in Funafuti and includes a Maritime Surveillance Unit, Customs, Prisons and Immigration. Police officers wear British style uniforms.
The Arc of Instability is a proposed, interconnected chain of politically unstable nation states in the Asia-Pacific region. The term came into vogue in the late 1990s, proving especially popular with Australian politicians and journalists, although it has been received with negative criticism from South Pacific leaders. The Arc is also sometimes to referred to as Balkanization in a modern, Asia-Pacific context.
Nicholas Peter Warner, is an Australian diplomat, intelligence official, public servant, and the Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence since 20 December 2018.
Gregory Lawrence Urwin PSM CSI was an Australian career diplomat and top Pacific specialist. Urwin held the post of Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, an important inter-governmental regional organisation from 2004 until 2 May 2008. Urwin had been the longest serving Australian diplomat in the Pacific at the time of his death in 2008. Urwin was also the first non-Pacific Islander to become Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum.
The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) is the national police force of Solomon Islands and in January 2015 had an establishment of approximately 1,153 officers and 43 police stations across the country.
Foreign relations exist between Australia and Solomon Islands. Australia has a High Commission in Honiara and Solomon Islands has a High Commission in Canberra. The two countries are members of the Pacific Islands Forum.
Australia–Federated States of Micronesia relations are the bilateral relations between Australia and Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Australia was the first country to start diplomatic relations with FSM in 1987 and is one of the four countries that have resident ambassadors to Micronesia. The two countries are members of the Pacific Islands Forum.
Gregory Laurence Moriarty is a senior Australian public servant and diplomat, and the current Secretary of the Department of Defence since 4 September 2017. He was previously the Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Moriarty has been Australian Ambassador to Iran from 2005 to 2008, Australian Ambassador to Indonesia from 2010 to 2014, the inaugural Commonwealth Counter-Terrorism Coordinator from 2015 to 2016, and the International and National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister.
The defence industry of Australia provides military equipment, supplies and services for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and export customers. Definitions of what the defence industry comprises and estimates of its size differ, but it was believed to have employed between 12,000 and 29,000 people as of the mid-2010s. The industry has grown over recent years, and Australian Defence Magazine reported that the 40 largest companies had a total revenue of $A 9.2 billion in 2015.
The Pacific Maritime Security Program is a program initiated by Australia to aid the neighbouring Pacific Island nations, such as Timor-Leste, Fiji, Palau, Kiribati and Tonga. The program includes the maintenance of port facilities, training, and the transfer of 21 Guardian-class patrol boats. The program was initiated under the 2018 Boe Declaration on Regional Security.
Australian Government Customs and Border Protection Service 2011, Australian Customs and Border Protection Service Annual Report 2010–11, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.
Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 1997, In the National Interest: Australia's Foreign and Trade Policy White Paper, White Paper, Commonwealth of Australia.
Ayson, R. 2007, 'The "Arc of Instability" and Australia's Strategic Policy, Australian Journal of International Affairs, Volume 61, Number 2, pp.215–231.
Bateman, S. & Bergin, A. 2008, 'Maritime Security' in Australia and the South Pacific: Rising to the Challenge, Special Report, Issue 12, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Canberra, pp.55–73, viewed 7 May 2012, <[permanent dead link].
Breen, B. 2008, 'Peace Support Operations' in Australia and the South Pacific: Rising to the Challenge, Special Report Issue 12, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Canberra, pp.43–55, viewed 7 May 2012,<[permanent dead link].
Dobell, G. 2011, 'PNG's Golden Era: Political and Security Challenges in PNG and their Implications for Australia, Policy Analysis, 12 January, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Canberra, viewed 7 May 2012, <[permanent dead link].
Firth, S. 2008, 'The Threat Spectrum' in Australia and the South Pacific: Rising to the Challenge, Special Report, Issue 12, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Canberra, pp.9–17, viewed 7 May 2012,<[permanent dead link].
Hufbauer, G. C., Schott, J. J., Elliott, K. A. & Muir, J. 2012, Post-2000 Sanctions Episodes, Case Studies in Economic Sanctions and Terrorism, Peterson Institute for International Economics, viewed 10 May 2012, <http://piie.com/publications/papers/sanctions-timeline-post-2000.pdf>.
Lyon, R. 2008, The Next Defence White Paper: The Strategic Environment, Policy Analysis, 29 January, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Canberra, viewed 8 May 2012, <[permanent dead link].
Rumley, D. 2006, 'The Emergence of Australia's Arc of Instability' in D Rumley, V Louis-Forbes and C Griffin (eds.) Australia's Arc of Instability: The Political and Cultural Dynamics of Regional Security, Springer, Dordrecht, pp.11–22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
