Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

I thank you, Senator Fawcett, for your question. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge and welcome our friend the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare, as a guest of government to Australia. Ours is a friendship that spans many decades. It's across aid, it's across trade, it's across security, and it's across the many lives that have been lost.

Just last week, I was in the Solomon Islands for the 75th anniversary commemoration of the Battle of Guadalcanal and the sinking of HMAS Canberra. I was privileged to be at the end of RAMSI celebrations, and they were led by the Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove. This marked the end of a 14-year deployment and the success and the legacy that RAMSI has left not just for the Solomon Islands but also for the region. At its height, there were almost 2,000 military, 375 police and 185 advisers. It was a civilian-led operation, Operation Helpem Fren. It cost $3 billion, of which $2.8 billion was contributed by Australia.

Let me take senators back to April of 2003. The then Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Sir Allan Kemakeza, wrote to the then Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, requesting our assistance. Our assistance was very, very swift. The mechanism for providing assistance was the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands, known as RAMSI. Why it was such a success was that it was truly a regional response. All 15 members of the Pacific Islands Forum contributed. Yes, we contributed the bulk, but we did contribute as equal partners. It is a legacy of regional cooperation, and we are looking forward to discussing the post-RAMSI framework for continued regional security. (Time expired)