Defence Minister Judith Collins at the moment departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ assembly (SPDMM).
“This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says.
“New Zealand is a strong supporter of the Pacific region and I look forward to working together as we tackle shared challenges.”
Hosted by France, the assembly will contain Defence counterparts from Papua New Guinea, Fiji, France, Tonga, Chile and Australia. The United Kingdom, United States and Japan will participate as observers.
During the assembly, New Zealand will lead discussions on the implications of pure disasters for regional safety and humanitarian help and catastrophe aid (HADR) response in addition to advancing Women, Peace and Security initiatives.
The Minister can be joined by Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Kevin Short and Ministry of Defence officers. The delegation will return to New Zealand on 6 December.
Source: Beehive