Australia has announced the donation of police vehicles and 60 MK18 rifles to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) in a move described as a “game changer” for Australia’s relationship with Solomon Islands police.
The announcement comes after a turbulent year in the relationship between Australia and Solomon Islands, particularly on the question of security, after the Pacific country signed a controversial and secretive security agreement with China.
The Solomon Islands prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, has suggested the relationship between Solomons and Australia has “soured”, but he attended Wednesday’s ceremony in Honiara where the vehicles and weapons were handed over.
Australia’s high commissioner to Solomon Islands, Lachlan Strahan, was also in attendance.
Strahan tweeted photographs of the handover ceremony and said the donation was part of “extending our deep security partnership stretching back across two decades”.
Dr Anna Powles, a senior lecturer in security studies at Massey University, said the move represented a significant shift in the relationship.
“Australia, under its policing partnership program with Solomon Islands, has supported the RSIPF’s staged limited rearmament and training. This has included previous donations of vehicles, riot gear and pistols,” Powles said.
“The donation of 60 MK18 semi-automatic rifles is a game changer because it’s a significant increase in capability.”
The donation of equipment, including weapons, comes as China’s involvement in Solomon Islands security, particularly in the area of police training, has increased.
In October, a delegation of 34 Solomon Islands police officers travelled to China to undergo training for the first time.
“Policing assistance has increasingly become contested in Solomon Islands with its two main security providers competing for influence,” Powles said.
James Batley, a former Australian high commissioner to Solomon Islands, said on Wednesday: “I’d rather they came from us than from anyone else, to be perfectly frank. Countries like Australia don’t just hand over guns, we hand over systems to manage guns … and not everyone would do that.”
In his announcement about the donation, Strahan said that “the firearms come with stringent training and rigorous safeguards, including safe and secure storage”.
Batley said that while Australia had been involved in supplying training and equipment to the Solomon Islands police for many years, China’s increased interest in the country could not be ignored as a potential factor in the supply of the guns.
“It’s not being done in a vacuum … obviously you can’t take it out of the context of what’s going on geopolitically,” he said. “But it also must tell us something about what the government itself wants because it’s not like we thrust things on them against their wishes.”
Powles suggested the move could raise alarm and mistrust among Solomon Islanders.
“There is already low public trust in the police and this will certainly raise questions amongst those in Solomon Islands concerned about the rearming of the RSIPF,” she said.
