{"id":33617,"date":"2025-07-07T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T04:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=33617"},"modified":"2025-07-07T14:30:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T04:30:00","slug":"australia-and-fiji-to-elevate-vuvale-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2025\/07\/07\/australia-and-fiji-to-elevate-vuvale-partnership\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia and Fiji to elevate Vuvale Partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Australia and Fiji are taking steps to formally elevate and deepen the&nbsp;<em>Vuvale Partnership<\/em>&nbsp;as we work together to ensure a peaceful, stable and prosperous Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka\u2019s visit to Australia, we affirmed our support for Prime Minister Rabuka\u2019s vision for an \u201cOcean of Peace\u201d including family first&nbsp;Pacific regionalism and Pacific-led&nbsp;solutions&nbsp;to&nbsp;Pacific&nbsp;challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As part of this next step in our&nbsp;<em>Vuvale Partnership&nbsp;<\/em>(meaning \u2018family\u2019), Australia will support Fiji to implement key priorities including:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>funding two technical advisers to lead the implementation of Fiji\u2019s new National Security Strategy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>embedding Australian Federal Police officers in the Fiji Police Force to extend policing cooperation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>providing $12 million (FJD 17.6 million) to strengthen border security by improving shipping\u00a0container screening at Lautoka and Suva Ports; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>increasing Australia\u2019s bilateral development assistance to Fiji by $40 million (FJD 56 million) over four years, taking the total to just under $500 million (FJD 734 million) from 2025 to 2029.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>As Fiji and Australia look to deepen&nbsp;<em>Vuvale<\/em>, we will also explore further cooperation across a range of areas including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>operationalising Ocean of Peace principles, including family first Pacific regionalism<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>delivering a modern, cyber-secure ICT Border Management System to support Fijians and visitors<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>enhancing cooperation on transnational\u00a0crime, with a focus on responding to illicit drugs\u00a0and\u00a0opportunities for greater information sharing and surveillance efforts<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>strengthening policing capability through training and infrastructure<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>tackling HIV\/AIDS, building on Australia\u2019s $7.1 million (FJD 10.4 million) investment in Fiji\u2019s health system<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>expanding maritime security, shipbuilding and maintenance through technical collaboration; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>growing economic opportunities through skills development and employment\u00a0pathways.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to meeting with Pacific Affairs Minister Conroy, the Fiji delegation also met the Governor-General, Prime Minister&nbsp;Albanese, Home Affairs Minister Burke and Attorney-General Rowland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Fiji delegation visited the 130-strong Royal Fiji Military Forces Rotational Company&nbsp;participating in Exercise South Queensland Warfighter as part of the Australian&nbsp;Defence Force 7th Brigade, as well as the Pacific Policing Initiative facilities in Pinkenba&nbsp;where Fiji is part of a regional policing effort, and the Australian Border Force-led Maritime&nbsp;Border Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fiji is a regional leader, and the economic hub of the Pacific. Our First Nations\u2019 peoples&nbsp;share deep connections to land and sea. Australia and Fiji&nbsp;stand together&nbsp;because we&nbsp;share an ocean&nbsp;and we share a future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A&nbsp;strengthened&nbsp;<em>Vuvale Partnership<\/em>&nbsp;will help us build a region defined by peace, unity and prosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&nbsp;look forward to taking this important next step with our Fijian family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Australia and Fiji are taking steps to formally elevate and deepen the&nbsp;Vuvale Partnership&nbsp;as we work together to ensure a peaceful, stable and prosperous Pacific. During Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka\u2019s visit to Australia, we affirmed our support for Prime Minister Rabuka\u2019s vision for an \u201cOcean of Peace\u201d including family first&nbsp;Pacific regionalism and Pacific-led&nbsp;solutions&nbsp;to&nbsp;Pacific&nbsp;challenges. As part &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2025\/07\/07\/australia-and-fiji-to-elevate-vuvale-partnership\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Australia and Fiji to elevate Vuvale Partnership&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33617"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33618,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33617\/revisions\/33618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}