The Pacific Response Group, a newly established multinational support group, took part in the French-led Exercise Croix du Sud 2025, a major humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise held in New Caledonia, and Wallis and Futuna.
The group was formed to provide rapid, coordinated support to civilian authorities and other organisations to plan a disaster response and identify potential follow-on tasks in response to climate and natural disaster-related emergencies.
It was first proposed during the 2023 South Pacific Defence Ministers' Meeting (SPDMM) in New Caledonia and formally endorsed at the SPDMM in Auckland in 2024.
The group includes personnel from Australia, Fiji, France, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga. Each member nation provides specialist planners and staff with expertise in a specific area, such as operations, engineering, logistics, intelligence, communications or maritime planning.
Exercise Croix du Sud, led by the French Armed Forces in New Caledonia, provided a platform for the group to test its operational concept in a realistic, multinational environment.
Taking place just months after the group became operational on November 1, 2024, the exercise brought together 18 nations to test regional cooperation in the event of large-scale natural disasters.
'Disaster doesn't respect borders. Our strength is in our unity, our preparation and our speed.'
The group rehearsed key components, such as recall procedures, deployment logistics, operational reporting over distributed locations and coordination with international partners.
A headquarters team was based in Noumea and a forward planning team deployed to Wallis and Futuna. These teams worked with local authorities, emergency services, communities and the defence forces of other participating nations to build coordination and strengthen relationships on the ground.
Activities included visits with hospitals, utility providers and remote villages to assess response requirements and identify areas for future support in real-world disaster scenarios.
Captain Savenaca Degei, of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, said the group's cultural and linguistic diversity enabled effective communication and trust-building with local populations.
"One of our strengths is the ability to speak to people in their own language - not just linguistically, but culturally," he said.
Commander Pacific Response Group Lieutenant Colonel Scott Hill said Exercise Croix du Sud was more than just a test. He said it marked the group's debut on the international stage.
"Disaster doesn't respect borders. Our strength is in our unity, our preparation and our speed," Lieutenant Colonel Hill said.
