Pacific police deal is masterstroke of Australian diplomacy

A new regional policing agreement represents a major diplomatic victory for Australia and a win for Pacific security.

The geopolitical rivalry between China on the one hand and Australia, the United States and their allies on the other is affecting all aspects of regional diplomacy. Last week, leaders from the Pacific region gathered at a meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum to set the agenda anew.

And one of the most important issues for the Pacific is transnational crime. With drug cartels from Latin America using Fiji and other Pacific countries as a transit point for drugs entering Australia and New Zealand, transnational crime now ranks alongside climate change as the two most important regional priorities.

In January, three tons of methamphetamine were seized in Fiji. If it were to be exported to markets in Australia and New Zealand, it could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Asian criminal organizations and criminal motorcycle gangs from Australia and New Zealand are also active in some countries. They are responsible for other forms of crime, such as human trafficking, prostitution and fraud.

In June, Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka told Pacific leaders:

We know that crime and criminal groups do not respect borders. Instead, they manipulate borders with their business model. Cybercriminals completely ignore borders.

What the new police agreement will do

That’s why this week’s announcement of an Australian-funded A$400 million (US$270.6 million) Pacific Policing Initiative is so significant. It’s a comprehensive program designed by the Pacific Police to address the growing threat of transnational crime.

The agreement consists of three main pillars, which establish the following:

• four new police centres that provide specialist training in the region,
• a Pacific police support group that can send trained officers to countries for major events or to respond to crises and
• a Pacific Police Coordination Centre in Brisbane that will have access to Australian Federal Police facilities for training.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stressed that the idea was developed in collaboration with police chiefs in the Pacific region.

Unlike previous bilateral efforts with Australia, this initiative will be truly regional. And despite some concerns about the geopolitical impact of the deal, the consensus among Pacific leaders is that the initiative will be very useful.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape described it as “a concept born from within.” He added:

The entire Pacific Ocean is the largest uncontrolled space on planet Earth.… It is really important that we come together in this way.

Increasing drug use and HIV infections

The threats from transnational criminals are framed as a problem that is being fired from outside the region. These organized crime groups are only interested in the strategic value of the Pacific as a stopover in their distribution networks.

These criminals also exploit the capacity shortages of police forces in the Pacific and the vulnerability of regional police forces to corruption.

Unfortunately, the role of transhipment centre also results in increased drug use in many Pacific countries, which is accompanied by social and health problems such as sex work and HIV infections.

The number of new HIV cases in Fiji in particular is rising at an alarming rate. As one UN official said:

It is a serious concern, we are seeing young people, teenagers, dying from HIV today and it is shocking, we are seeing 10-year-olds, 12-year-olds coming into clinics and testing positive for drug use.

The geopolitics behind the deal

By responding so comprehensively to this need, Australia is also seen as the ‘partner of choice’ for at least a generation of Pacific policing.

Many Pacific leaders feel that Australia has struggled for years to provide a satisfactory response to their concerns about climate change. However, the policing initiative is an example of Australia making good on a promise. It is likely to give Canberra a boost in its ongoing battle with China for influence.

The deal builds on Australia’s successful military diplomacy in the Pacific in recent years. Canberra has funded key defence infrastructure, such as the Lombrum and Blackrock bases in Papua New Guinea and Fiji respectively, and supplied military equipment such as patrol boats and bushmaster vehicles.

These are practical examples of how Canberra is using the instruments of statecraft at its disposal to advance its national interests, namely by displacing Chinese influence in this strategic area.

The police agreement stands in stark contrast to China’s failure to reach a regional security agreement of its own in 2022.

Of course, there is some caution about the deal. Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai said he wanted to ensure the police initiative “is designed to suit our objectives and is not designed to suit the geostrategic interests and geostrategic security denial postures of our major partners.”

Under the agreement, each Pacific government can decide for itself how it wants to participate in the initiative. The response of the Solomon Islands, which signed a controversial police deal with China, will now be closely watched in Canberra.

In short, the Pacific Policing Initiative is good government policy and diplomacy. It will certainly improve the fight against transnational crime by providing regional police with the resources and expertise they need.

However, success in policing should not lead to complacency. Australia has a long way to go to meet the Pacific’s climate change expectations. China will undoubtedly be looking for an advantage in this area.

Michael O’Keefe is Director of the Masters in International Relations in the Faculty of Politics, Media and Philosophy at La Trobe University.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.