A week after Beijing launched an ICBM test aimed at the Pacific—the first time it had done so in 30 years—defence ministers from across the Pacific met for their ninth annual gathering.
Overshadowing other concerns at the South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM) was an evolving security landscape marked by increasing aggression from Beijing.
The SPDMM provides a forum for Pacific countries to develop joint strategies, enhancing their defence capabilities and their ability to protect their collectively vast exclusive economic zones (EEZs).
New Zealand Defence Minister Judith Collins noted the recent missile launch, acknowledged that the Pacific was facing “a very difficult geopolitical situation compared to 10 or 15 years ago,” and stressed the need for collective action to ensure regional security.
“What we’re seeing is unprecedented from my experience and reading of history,” she said.
“Action in the Pacific and also in Europe and in the Middle East, all together, all at one time—the enormous support that we need to be able to give to our neighbours is pretty clear.
“In a region this size it is vital we work together to produce regional solutions to regional problems.”
The presence of the observer nations illustrates the importance Australia and New Zealand place on their security partnerships outside the region, including Five Eyes.
Collins was evident in her support for those connections, saying, “We would have very little intelligence capability without our friends.”
She admitted that much of New Zealand’s military equipment is outdated, with many assets “almost antique.”
However, she pointed to recent acquisitions, such as the P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft, C-130J-30 Hercules, and the uncrewed surface vessel Bluebottle, as the first signs of the current government’s determination to increase investment in defence.
The 6.8 metre remote-controlled Bluebottle, powered by renewable energy, can undertake information surveillance reconnaissance duties, including fishery and border protection, and provide meteorological data.
Humanitarian Relief Also a Focus
She also noted that Pacific countries would all benefit from working together and sharing knowledge on issues such as humanitarian aid.“Members agreed on the importance of working with civilian agencies when it comes to supporting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts, and in the areas of combating maritime security threats such as illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing and transnational organised crime,” Collins said.
“These are issues that have a significant impact on many South Pacific nations which, like New Zealand, have large Exclusive Economics Zones.”
In the past, the militaries of Pacific Island nations have been collectively deployed in response to cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, bushfires, and floods to return stability to damaged and devastated communities.
That action will soon be coordinated through the Pacific Response Group (PRG), which SPDMM ministers endorsed and called for its establishment immediately.
There will also be a PRG Pacific Special Advisory Team (PSAT)—a small, rapidly deployable group available to support civilian authorities and other organisations in an affected state in planning a disaster response and identifying potential follow-on tasks. It will be co-located in Brisbane during the upcoming high-risk weather season for rapid mobilisation.
Also present at the meeting for the first time was the Pacific Islands Forum, represented by its Secretary General Baron Waqa.
But pressed on the issue of CCP aggression, he said: “We would like to keep the Pacific a peaceful area, a peaceful zone that we have everyone acknowledge and respect, and with this ballistic missile test in the Pacific, in our region, is a big, big concern for us, and we say to China a big no, no.”
