Pacific Police Ministers Meeting, Fiji

​​​​"Connected by Ocean, United in the Fight"

19 May 2026

Momi Bay, Fiji

OUTCOMES STATEMENT

The inaugural Pacific Police Ministers' Meeting was held at Momi Bay, Fiji on 19 May 2026 as part of the Pacific Transnational Crime Summit (18 - 22 May 2026) convened by the Fiji Police Force and the Australian Federal Police, and provided the opportunity to advance Pacific-led policing cooperation to combat transnational organised crime in our region. Delegates were welcomed to the Pacific Transnational Crime Summit by the Prime Minister of Fiji, the Honourable Sitiveni Rabuka, who emphasised the importance of developing responses grounded in Pacific regionalism, that are practical, cooperative and Pacific-led.

The meeting was co-Chaired by the Governments of Fiji and Australia and attended by Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu at the Leaders level, the Federated States of Micronesia, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, and American Samoa at the Ministerial level. French Polynesia (France), New Caledonia (France), and Vanuatu were represented by Senior Government Officials.

In their opening remarks, the Hon Ioane Naivalurua, Minister of Policing and Communications of Fiji and the Hon Tony Burke, Australian Minister for Home Affairs emphasised the need to translate mandates and intent into coherent, coordinated, intelligence-led action in the water, on the ground and in the air. Ministers highlighted opportunities to strengthen maritime cooperation; improve information-sharing and operational connectivity; take a balanced, whole of system approach to addressing the impacts of illicit drugs on communities; and the need to provide political leadership to guide and support Police Chiefs, to anchor accountability and address fragmentation in the regional architecture. Ministers emphasised that by aligning efforts, strengthening cooperation, leveraging existing regional architecture, assets and tools, and committing to practical action, transnational organised crime and organised criminal groups and their pathways and networks can be disrupted.

In his opening remarks, the Secretary General underscored that the growing scale and sophistication of transnational organised crime in the Blue Pacific, particularly illicit drugs, requires a stronger, coordinated and Pacific-led regional response. He emphasised that while the region has strengthened its intelligence and policing capabilities, the key challenge is ensuring greater coherence across existing regional mechanisms to better disrupt criminal networks operating to and through the Pacific. He also highlighted that transnational organised crime is not solely a law enforcement issue, but one with significant social and community impacts, requiring integrated responses that reflect Pacific priorities. He welcomed the meeting outcomes being considered by Forum Leaders in 2026.

TRANSNATIONAL CRIME LANDSCAPE 2026 - MARITIME DOMAIN, MONEY, CYBER, LEGISLATION

Ministers received briefings from Samoa Police Force Acting Commissioner Afamasaga, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, Head of Pacific Programme Virginia Comolli, and Pacific Fusion Centre Director Viliame Bovoro, to establish a shared understanding of risks and opportunities of the transnational organised crime landscape in the Pacific.

Ministers acknowledged that transnational organised crime is an enduring and growing issue across multiple vectors, that technology is acting as a force multiplier and enabling criminal activities, and that policy and legal alignment remains uneven across the region. Ministers discussed the value of using model transnational organised crime legislation to harmonise approaches and address legislative gaps. Ministers noted the nexus between climate change and transnational organised crime, which exacerbates population and environmental vulnerabilities. Ministers acknowledged a window of opportunity to disrupt criminal eco-systems before they become more embedded, with a focus on ensuring responses are Pacific-led, intelligence-led, and anticipatory rather than reactive.

Pacific Police Ministers:

1. ​​ noted the Pacific Fusion Centre's Strategc Analytic Report, and
2. considered wide ranging opportunities aimed at strengthening sovereign and collective actions identified in the Report and agreed on the importance of:

1. better coordinating Pacific maritime and surveillance assets, real-time information sharing, risk-based targeting of high-risk trafficking routes
2. harmonising legislation including the use of model legislation, strengthening mutual legal assistance and allowing stronger coordination from detection to interdiction to prosecution
3. exploring the implications of the climate change and transnational organised crime nexus
4. strengthening regional financial intelligence and anti-money laundering coordination with law enforcement, and
5. accelerating implementation of the 2023 Lagatoi Declaration on Digital Transformation of the Pacific to coordinate approaches to cyber incident management.

IMPACTS OF DRUGS ON PACIFIC COMMUNITIES, BARRIERS TO HARM REDUCTION

Ministers received briefings on the wide-ranging health impacts of drug trafficking and community-level drug use in the Pacific by the Fiji National HIV Outbreak and Cluster Response Taskforce and the Global Law Enforcement and Public Health Association including the operational, service-level, structural and systemic barriers to harm reduction. Ministers acknowledged the need for greater harm reduction measures and public health awareness, and the need for police to cooperate with health and social services to focus on prevention and harm reduction. Ministers supported the need for greater public health awareness, stronger harm reduction approaches in accordance with national contexts, and closer cooperation between police, health and social services to reduce community harm and support prevention-focused responses.

Ministers welcomed the experiences shared by the Governments of Palau and New Zealand on national responses to transnational crime. They reaffirmed the importance of whole of nation unified responses to address the impacts of drug use. Ministers highlighted that national resilience enables regional resilience. As each country strengthens its own systems, capability, intelligence processes and community response, the whole region becomes harder to exploit.

Pacific Police Ministers:

1. agreed to promote co-ordinated and holistic law enforcement, health and social responses to reduce the wide range of drug-related harm and community impacts of transnational crime
2. agreed as a statement of principle, that Pacific police forces direct enforcement activities at transnational criminal syndicates, and strengthen lawful access to drug treatment and harm reduction services
3. requested Pacific Police Chiefs to develop harm reduction protocols, and occupational health and safety capacity building, in consultation with government and community partners, and taking into particular account the unique vulnerabilities and challenges of Smaller Island States, and
4. thanked Members for sharing their experiences developing holistic national responses focused on building resilience to combat transnational organised crime.

PACIFIC LED RESPONSES - REGIONAL COORDINATION TO COMBAT TRANSNATIONAL CRIME INCLUDING THE MOVEMENT OF DRUGS THROUGH THE PACIFIC

Ministers acknowledged the call from Pacific Island Forum Leaders for a coordinated regional approach to combating transnational organised crime, and the critical importance of utilising existing regional strategies and mechanisms to address transnational organised crime in the Pacific.

Ministers considered the need for a more coherent regional approach to addressing transnational organised crime, to better leverage existing mechanisms and systems to translate Leaders' mandate into intelligence-led, coordinated and collective action.

Ministers emphasised that any strengthened regional cooperation to combat transnational organised crime must remain Pacific-led, voluntary, and consistent with national laws, capacities and priorities, while reinforcing Members' sovereign decision-making. They further noted that participation should be flexible and inclusive, enabling Smaller Island States to contribute in ways that reflect their circumstances and capacities, including through intelligence sharing, liaison, legal cooperation, facilitation and other practical support.

Pacific Police Ministers:

1. ​ agreed to strengthen Pacific-led, collective and coordinated responses to transnational crime in line with the Pacific Islands Forum Transnational Organised Crime Disruption Strategy 2024-2028
2. recognised that there remains a gap between law enforcement and maritime security responses to illicit drug trafficking and other forms of transnational organised crime in the Pacific maritime domain, and that further efforts are needed to improve the flow of maritime domain awareness and other relevant information to enforcement agencies
3. reaffirmed that further efforts and resourcing are required to increase Members' sovereign capacity to sustain maritime interdiction and enforcement operations in their own jurisdictions, and expand regional counter-drug trafficking operations, drawing on Members' sovereign assets, Transnational Crime Units and enhanced information sharing that is timely, effective and fit for purpose to enable targeted risk-based interdictions, and
4. agreed to enhance joint and coordinated law enforcement operations, and recommended the development of an intelligence-led mechanism for coordinated maritime interdictions of illicit drugs for consideration by Pacific Island Forum Leaders in Palau, with the Forum Officials Sub-Committee on Regional Security to provide advice on the mechanism, including developing any Terms of Reference or a concept note, through Forum Officials. Any mechanism would need to be transparent and inclusive, enabling all Forum Members to contribute according to their individual capacity, priorities and resources.

Pacific Policing Architecture

Ministers welcomed updates from Pacific Police Chiefs on efforts to strengthen regional policing cooperation, governance and alignment, including through ongoing work to better connect the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police and Pacific Policing Initiative to a unified regional policing model, to be known as 'PACPOL'.

Pacific Police Ministers:

1. welcomed Chiefs' continued focus on driving collective action against transnational organised crime threats in the Pacific, including through enhanced intelligence sharing, joint operations and disruption methodologies and cross-jurisdictional coordination
2. supported the strengthening of bilateral and multilateral policing partnerships ensuring sovereignty remains central, to align regional efforts through existing Pacific mechanisms, and capability-building and workforce-support initiatives to enhance and sustain operational effectiveness
3. welcomed the progress on implementation of the Pacific Policing Initiative (PPI) and reaffirmed its value as a Pacific-led initiative for strengthening peace and security across the Pacific
4. further requested that any decisions on new regional policing entities, including PACPOL, are considered as part of the wider Review of Regional Architecture, so that policing reforms, transnational organised crime priorities and other security institutions are addressed coherently at the political and operational levels, and
5. endorsed Police Chiefs' proposal to re-focus the PPI Regional Centre of Excellence in Samoa to Transnational Organised Crime, noting complementarities with the Pacific Transnational Crime Coordination Centre (PTCCC).

Regional Architecture

Ministers acknowledged the value of more coherent ministerial oversight of the Peace and Security Pillar in the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, including from Police Ministers. Pacific Police Ministers further acknowledged that effective transnational organised crime disruption depends on stronger policy coherence across national, sectoral and regional frameworks and that the Thematic Advisory Group on Peace and Security provides an opportunity to strengthen coordination.

Pacific Police Ministers:

1. ​ agreed to report to Pacific Islands Forum Leaders in 2026 on the outcomes of the Pacific Transnational Crime Summit and Pacific Police Ministers Meeting, including for the Forum Secretariat to explore options to institutionalise the Pacific Police Ministers Meeting as part of ministerial oversight of the Peace and Security Pillar of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, to further strengthen regional coordination, oversight and collective action against transnational organised crime, and
2. agreed to meet again in 2027 to review implementation of outcomes and further consider regional responses.

CONCLUSION

The meeting concluded with Ministers expressing their gratitude to the Honourable Sitiveni Rabuka, Prime Minister of Fiji and the Hon Ioane Naivalurua, Minister of Police and Communications of Fiji and the Hon Tony Burke, Australian Minister for Home Affairs, as well as to the Government and people of Fiji for co-hosting this successful first meeting.