Australia to boost police support to Solomon Islands
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia will provide funding, training and infrastructure to the Solomon Islands to expand its police force.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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SYDNEY – Australia will provide A$190 million (S$161 million) to the Solomon Islands to expand its police force so that the Pacific Island nation, which also has security ties with China, can reduce its reliance on external partners, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
The US and Australia have been racing to limit China’s security ambitions in the strategically located region ever since Solomon Islands’ then-leader Manasseh Sogavare signed a security deal with Beijing in 2022.
Mr Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Dec 20 that the funding commitment to expand the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force over four years, with training and infrastructure, showed Australia was the “security partner of choice” to the Solomon Islands.
The move “responds to Solomon Islands’ strong desire to build an enduring sovereign security capability, thereby reducing its reliance on external partners over time”, Mr Albanese and his Solomon Islands counterpart Jeremiah Manele said in a joint statement.
Solomon Islands has hosted a small Chinese police presence since 2022.
Australian police had provided security in the Solomon Islands from 2003 to 2017 at the request of the archipelago’s government after internal conflict, and returned in 2021 to help quell riots and support national elections in 2024.
Mr Mihai Sora, director of the Pacific Islands Program at the Lowy Institute think-tank, said the security sector in Solomon Islands remains “highly contested”.
“It keeps Australia in the game, but it won’t slow the pace of the competition,” he said of the funding announcement.
“Prime Minister Manele has agreed to extra law and order support from Australia, but he has not committed to diminishing his country’s security partnerships with China, which remains the main objective for Canberra,” he added.
Mr Manele had requested funds to double the size of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force from 1,500 to 3,000 officers during a visit to Canberra in June.
“This partnership will strengthen the Solomon Islands’ domestic security, but it will also enhance its ability to contribute to regional stability,” Mr Albanese said.
The Pacific Islands Forum agreed in August to form a regional policing strategy, under which its 18 member nations would boost police numbers and provide security within the “Pacific family”. China is not a member of the forum.
Australia has signed a flurry of funding and security deals with its Pacific Island neighbours in December, amid uncertainty over the foreign policy approach of the incoming US administration under Donald Trump.
Among these, a police funding deal with Nauru
