The ninth annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM) wrapped up today in Auckland, New Zealand. This year’s gathering saw Defence Ministers and representatives from Australia, Chile, Fiji, France, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Tonga come together. Notably, observers from Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States also attended, along with the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Mr. Baron Waqa, as a special guest.
The theme for this year’s meeting was “Collectively Looking to the Future: Our Region in 2050,” which focused on addressing significant regional security challenges, including climate change, maritime security, and strategic competition. The discussions highlighted the necessity for enhanced collaboration and a unified approach to tackle these intricate issues, reaffirming the joint commitment of Pacific nations to ensure the security and resilience of the region.
Several significant outcomes from the SPDMM were endorsed, notably the formation of the Pacific Response Group (PRG), aimed at improving disaster response capabilities across the Pacific. The ministers also talked about enhancing maritime security cooperation to bolster domain awareness, agreeing to continue ship-riding cooperation and intelligence sharing to confront threats like illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and transnational crime.
Climate change was highlighted as a security issue and will remain a regular agenda item for future SPDMM meetings. The ministers expressed their commitment to strengthening regional capacity to effectively respond to climate-induced disasters.
Furthermore, the attendees welcomed a report on non-traditional threats, emphasizing how militaries in the South Pacific are addressing these issues, including cyber threats, natural disasters, and health crises, in accordance with the Boe Declaration on Regional Security. Another concern raised was the establishment of the Pacific Defence Faith Network, which aims to advance the Women, Peace, and Security agenda concerning recruitment and career progression hurdles in Pacific militaries.
Additionally, there was support for the rollout of a regional training framework, designed to improve military training coordination by 2025. The efforts made by Chile to establish the SPDMM Academic Cooperation Network were also commended.
Fiji’s delegation, led by Pio Tikoduadua, played a pivotal role in advancing discussions about the Regional Training Framework, which will now encompass defence civilian training streams to ensure a holistic approach to enhancing defence capability across the South Pacific.
The meeting concluded with a shared commitment to Pacific-led solutions, with a pledge to reconvene in Chile for the SPDMM 2025.