Under-Secretary-General Lacroix, Ministers, fellow Chiefs of Police, distinguished delegates and friends from across the Pacific.
It is an honour for Australia to host the United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit for the first time, and a proud moment for me as the Australian Federal Police Commissioner to help open this discussion on the future of United Nations policing.
This is an important conversation and one the AFP is proud to lead, given 60 years ago we made our first contribution to UN Police Peacekeeping in Cyprus.
The AFP's role in UN Police Peacekeeping missions is embedded in our history, traditions and DNA.
However, we do this with eyes wide open.
It is unjust that the pursuit of peace can lead to death. And, like many other nations, our efforts were not symbolic or without sacrifice.
Our collective fallen are not just names inscribed on walls of remembrance. They are the epitome of men and women who saw service to country greater than oneself.
Today, I acknowledge the sacrifices made by all of those who united for humanity under one uniform.
Our shared quest for security, safety and humanity does not invalidate our collective losses, but it explains why we must strive for it - and for all.
So, before we discuss the future of UN Peacekeeping Missions, I ask you to consider what our world would look like if the blue berets and blue helmets never existed.
And, let's be honest about the world we live in. Conflicts and outward aggression are unlikely to end. All of us live in an uncertain and unpredictable time.
But equally, let's be honest about this institution, which is mandated to uphold international peace and security.
The reputation of the UN is being challenged, and questions are being asked about whether the UN can still deliver on its mandate, given the uncertain and unpredictable world we live in.
Uncertainty and unpredictability does not just come with a human cost - it has a direct financial cost to our economies and our citizens.
This is a reason why UN Police Peacekeeping needs to remain, albeit with reform.
The reform needed is partly because of economics. There are financial pressures felt in every mission and every police-contributing country.
But reform does not mean we need to renege, recant or retreat.
The right reform will help protect our shared quest for humanity, security and safety.
If we insulate the core principles we have - and those we will continue to rely on - such as training, human rights, and the protection of civilians, we can do more with less.
Our capital is our shared institutional capital, which has been built over decades through hard-earned expertise.
Spending more does not mean we get better outcomes.
Spending our resources and capital more wisely does ensure we get better outcomes. This will become more important as the footprint of UN policing changes.
When I have honest conversations, I always start with this simple question: What is the problem we are trying to solve?
I think many of us would agree expensive and endless missions are becoming harder to defend and ultimately fund.
However, leaner should never come at the expense of principles, values and ethics.
We need a new way.
I never raise a problem without having a solution - and today, with Pacific Police Chiefs in the room - we propose a new way forward.
But first, I want to give you a sense of Pacific values and ambition and dispel myths some may hold.
The people of the Pacific do not see our part of the world as small.
As custodians of almost 20 per cent of the Earth's surface, our vast horizon is wide and boundless, matched only by our vision of pride, stewardship and sovereignty.
While our collective world seems smaller every day, the aspiration of Pacific Police Chiefs rightly gets bigger.
So, it is right we continue to be ambitious, and be ambitious together as the Pacific family, including Australia.
Because the 22 members of the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police are too many not to be seen.
And the Pacific Police Chiefs are too wise not to be heard.
But, at its heart, the people of the Pacific are too important not to be represented on the world stage as the ripple effect of complex criminal threats reverberate throughout the globe and disproportionally affect communities.
Despite the challenges and impacts of illicit drug use, drug trafficking, cybercrime and human trafficking, the Pacific's ethos of communal care and shared responsibility is a guiding light at a time when it would be easier to be consumed by the darkness of deceit and exploitation.
These are challenging times, but the Pacific, including Australia, looks outwards and not inwards.
Our solutions are not to be smaller. We want to contribute, not just to protect the region but to also support the rules-based order that has historically protected all of us.
While the true north of the Pacific Island Chiefs is the rhythm of the blue ocean, constant and comforting, we acknowledge the tides are changing - and we must.
Some of the old rules of the 20th Century are no longer sufficient to safeguard individual and global security.
And, while shared rules through shared institutions remain sacred, it requires all nations to have a voice.
This is underscored by our reality - the location of the Pacific region stopped being a security buffer a long time ago.
The old versions of ourselves - safe from threats because of geography, analogue systems and far away criminals - are consigned to the history books.
I cannot help defend and protect Australians and our sovereignty by only doing my job in Canberra, just like my fellow Pacific Police Chiefs cannot solely do it from Suva, Port Moresby, Apia or Majuro.
Our shared safety and security are anchored to agreed rules, multilateral systems and agencies throughout the globe, and often headquartered on the other side of the world.
But, at this moment, we are at the precipice of history.
It is important for this room to remember and reflect on the history we all share.
The Pacific's unique evolution exemplifies the value of the United Nations and multilateral forums, where decisions are made by countries and not for countries.
From the blue ocean to blue helmets, it started with the journey from independence, where Timor-Leste hosted a decade-long United Nations' peacekeeping mission.
And, in partnership with Australia and the UN, Timor-Leste forged a national police service from the fragility of peace, a state of equilibrium that can never be taken for granted.
It continued through the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, which is widely regarded as one of the most successful regional peace support operations in modern history, where Australia and other Pacific nations restored law and order together.
The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands also paved the way for the historic Pacific Police Support Group, which started in 2024.
This is where Pacific members under one uniform provide rapidly deployable responders to natural and civil crises in their region.
In 2003, I was a 23-year-old AFP Intelligence Officer when I deployed to Solomon Islands.
It helped shape the Commissioner I am today, and it is also guiding how I believe we can improve the fundamentals of UN Police Peacekeeping missions.
The heart of this reform comes back to one of my earlier points - size or influence do not decide ambition.
Last year, the Australian Federal Police and Pacific Police Chiefs delivered the first residential UN-accredited program of its kind to more than 100 Pacific officers and members from Timor-Leste at Pinkenba in Brisbane. Some of these peacekeepers have already deployed to the UN Mission in South Sudan.
The success rate for the training speaks for itself: A 73 per cent pass rate with more than 40 per cent female representation.
This is not a one-off. A second program for a further 50 officers will start on 27 July this year, with another course scheduled for early 2027.
The future for UN Police Peacekeeping is right in front of you.
Amid ongoing conversations about the sustainability of UN Police Peacekeeping, Australia was asked by the UN to see if we could create a more sustainable model.
We answered that call, and UN trainers from the AFP, the Pacific and around the globe produced a leaner, more agile training program, which was reduced from months to five weeks.
In just five weeks, they were mission ready. I know it is hard to understand how we could do this so efficiently and without risking the fundamentals.
But we did it by ensuring we did not waste a minute, and by building in extra capability such as tech training, English lessons and driver instruction.
This was UN Police Peacekeeping training plus teaching new capability to counter new and ever-evolving threats.
In a world where a majority of crimes are tech enabled, specialist skills are among the greatest tools the UN can develop. Multi-skilled officers can reduce head count and costs.
But this means appropriate resources are matched with the right people, just like some of the best officers Pacific Police Chiefs are putting forward.
I ask that you also commit to offering some of your best officers and specialists, because history shows that when they return home, they are more experienced, well-rounded and better leaders.
The future of UN policing will be done with us - together, here, with the rules and partnerships that favour equality and not domination.
A seat at the table is worth defending and it is worth investing in.
The opportunity we have in front of us is a symbiotic one - and one where our future and children throughout the world will be the beneficiaries.
A 21st Century United Nations Police Peacekeeping mission must look very different to the one from last Century.
This is the Australian Federal Police and Pacific Police Chiefs offering a 21st Century-plus model - one that is faster, fit for purpose and inclusive.
I will continue to champion this model and take more time to explain in Australia how the UN underpins our collective security.
For many in our communities, the UN's contribution to public safety is unknown or invisible.
So, it is incumbent upon us to explain to our citizens that the international rules, relationships and partnerships cemented by the UN allow the AFP to pursue criminals, evidence, money and intelligence across borders and to protect Australia's way of life.
As Commissioner, these rules will help me further achieve how I will deliver my compact to the Australian people.
This compact is centred on protecting vulnerable communities, including our youth, and shielding them from ever-evolving technology that is corrupting their innocence.
While in the United States, I will continue my conversations with responsible tech companies, who can be the digital penicillin of our time.
Some have already shown their willingness to have meaningful conversations about how we can better inoculate our kids from tech-enabled crime.
The need for these conversations is urgent because the scale and pace of crime will only become more acute because of artificial intelligence.
The risk is our collective justice systems, mental health systems, education systems and financial systems will become overwhelmed by a grievance generation, especially when victims become perpetrators and perpetrators become victims.
A growing concern of mine, and one shared by a number of other law enforcement agencies, is crime as a service and violence as a service, and how it is disproportionately affecting youth.
Enabled by platforms and technology, this new criminal gig economy has created an underworld after-school job for too many of our kids.
Tech as a facilitator of crime is also very relevant for any UN Police Peacekeeping mission.
Time and again, we witness the use of technology fuelling mis and disinformation, further inflaming tensions in nation states and causing conflict.
It will be the rules, frameworks, instruments and partnerships of multilateral forums such as this that will enable us to address these challenges collectively.
More than a decade ago, during its last term on the Security Council, Australia led the first resolution the Security Council had ever dedicated to United Nations policing.
In Australia, we describe ourselves as middle powers making purposeful efforts to contribute to a favourable balance - so no country dominates, and no country is dominated.
Alongside our Pacific partners, we argue size is not a determiner of how we help strengthen and invest in multilateral engagements.
It is our commitment to the rules-based order and the understanding that sovereignty is not just the purview of great powers - it is for all.
That is why Australia is seeking a seat on the Security Council for 2029-30 and why we intend to be judged by our values, our history and our commitments.
I want to thank you for coming today and, importantly, I want to acknowledge the Pacific Chiefs who have come here to share their ambition and aspiration with you all.
Thank you.
