Australia revealed intentions to cooperate with regional partners for setting up a Pacific Fusion Centre, in a bid to strengthen the ability of Pacific governments to enforce laws and protect their sovereignty. The centre will provide strategic analysis of information to help strengthen maritime domain awareness and provide security alerts and advice for Pacific security agencies.
As such, the centre will fuse information from multiple sources, including Australia, to equip Pacific decision makers with the information they need to better identify and respond to security threats, such as illegal fishing, people smuggling and drug trafficking.
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, announced the new centre during the Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru, on 5 September.
The initiative follows repeated calls from Pacific leaders for improved information sharing to guide security responses, including in last year’s Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ declaration.
According to the Minister, the Centre will complement Australia’s Pacific Maritime Security Program, which is providing 21 new Guardian-class patrol boats to the Pacific over the next five years, and an aerial surveillance package.
The facility will be established in the region in mid-2019, following further consultations with Pacific partners through a concept note and a feasibility study with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
The Minister also announced establishment, in early 2019, of an Australia Pacific Security College, to provide senior-level training, support strategic policy development and strengthen the networks among senior Pacific security officials.
This announcement joins a number of relevant intentions by the US, Australia, France and UK which aim to open new embassies in the Pacific and engage more with Pacific Island leaders to counter China’s rising regional influence, according to Reuters.