Australia to establish Pacific security center

Australia plans to establish a center for strategic analysis of information to help strengthen maritime domain awareness and provide security alerts and advice for Pacific security agencies.

The Pacific Fusion Centre was announced by Marise Payne, Australian foreign affairs minister, during the Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru on September 5.

As informed, the center 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 narcotics trafficking.

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.

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.

According to the minister, the center 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.

Australia is also establishing, in early 2019, an Australia Pacific Security College, to provide senior-level training, support strategic policy development and strengthen the networks among senior Pacific security officials.

These initiatives are said to reflect Australia’s commitment to implement the new Boe Regional Security Declaration, adopted today by Pacific Island Forum Leaders, as a contemporary platform for closer security collaboration.