The deal will deliver “much-needed support” for law and order in the Solomons, said Mihai Sora, director of the Sydney-based Lowy Institute think tank’s Pacific Islands programme.
“Australia is seeking to woo the Solomon Island government to make inroads,” he said.
But the agreement did not include commitments that would “diminish or scale back” the country’s ties with China – as had been the case in recent deals Australia signed with Nauru, Papua New Guinea and Tuvalu, he said.
“The agreement today is progress but it falls short of the overall objective of securing Australia’s place in a more exclusive way,” Sora said.
LOCAL POLICE OVERWHELMED
Canberra and Washington were caught napping in 2022 when Beijing signed a secretive security pact with Solomon Islands – the details of which largely remain under wraps.
China has also been offering training and hardware to the Solomons police.
It maintains a small but conspicuous police presence in the country, sending a revolving cadre of officers to train locals in shooting and riot tactics.
Local police, numbering 1,500 for a population of about 720,000, appeared overwhelmed when anti-government protests turned violent in Honiara in November 2021.
The riots left at least three people dead and much of the capital’s Chinatown district in ruins.
On a visit to Australia in June, Manele raised the country’s policing needs with Albanese.
In a joint statement at the time, the leaders said the Solomons had asked Australia to help it double the size of its police force to 3,000 over a decade, with a longer-term goal of reaching 5,000.
