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A South Pacific Police Force? (Working Paper) [2004] JSPL 19; (2004) 8(2) Journal of South Pacific Law

A SOUTH PACIFIC POLICE FORCE?

SEAN N. KIKKERT*

INTRODUCTION

In 2003 Australian Prime Minister John Howard presented the 2003 Pacific Island Forum with a plan for a regional police force.  The plan proposed a headquarters in Fiji, as well as a training centre that would prepare 900 police personnel a year for operations in the Pacific.^[1]

This was not the first time that such a pooling of resources had been proposed by a senior politician.^[2]  Indeed, a similar proposal was elicited in 1980 when Vanuatu appealed to the island-states for troops to oppose the secessionist movement on the island of Esperitu Santo.  On that occasion Australian and Papua New Guinean troops worked with Vanuatu police to restore order, and PNG’s Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan’s 1980 proposed that a ‘regional peacekeeping force’ be established.^[3]

Twenty-three years later, the situation in the Pacific was still precarious enough that a pooling of resources was once again proposed.  Indeed, the passage of time has seemingly done little to strengthen law and order in some States in the region.  As such, Prime Minister Howard’s proposal for a pooling of resources warrants serious consideration. However, does this proposal really have the potential to revolutionise law-enforcement in the South Pacific, or is it merely an impulsive response to the increasingly dangerous situation?  Is the proposal workable, and if so, do the benefits justify the cost incurred?  These are questions that must be answered by any government serious about ameliorating the perceived crisis of law and order in parts of the South Pacific.

AUSTRALIA’S INTEREST IN THE PACIFIC

There are two main reasons why Australia would be interested in the establishment of a regional police force.  Firstly, the Pacific has long been considered vital to Australia’s security.^[4]  For example, Australia has stated in its Defence White Paper Defence 2000 – Our Future Defence Force that:

Highest priority is accorded to our interests and objectives closest to Australia.  In some circumstances a major crisis far from Australia may be more important to our future security than a minor problem close at hand.  But in general, the closer a crisis or problem is to Australia, the greater the likelihood that it would be important to our security and the greater the likelihood that we would be able to help to do something about it.^[5]

Secondly, Australia is under a great deal of international pressure to keep peace in the Pacific,^[6] and a regional police force may allow Australia to fulfil this obligation in both a more cost effective and politically satisfactory manner than at present.  Bougainville, East Timor and the Solomon Islands have demonstrated that peacekeeping can be an expensive endeavour. For example, Australia’s two-week intervention in Bougainville alone cost Australia over five million dollars.^[7]