Opening of the Vuvale Maritime Essential Services Centre

Can I start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and honour them. And can I also acknowledge the traditional chiefs, pay my respects, and thank everyone for the beautiful welcome that we received this morning. The culture and custom that was placed on display is not only an honour to me here this morning, but very much through me, an honour to our nation, Australia, and for that we thank you. Can I acknowledge the Honourable Sitiveni Rabuka, the Prime Minister of Fiji. Can I acknowledge the Honourable Pio Tikoduadua, the Defence Minister of Fiji, and through them can I acknowledge all of the representatives who are here with us today. Can I also acknowledge Commodore Humphrey Tawake, the Deputy Chief of the Fiji Defence Force, and can I acknowledge Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, Australia’s Chief of Navy, and through them, all of those here today who are wearing their nation’s uniform. Can I acknowledge His Excellency, Peter Roberts, Australia’s High Commissioner to Fiji, and through him, all the members of the diplomatic corps who are here today. Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, Bula Vinaka. It is an enormous honour, and an excitement really, to be here today for the opening of the Vuvale Maritime Essential Services Centre. This is an incredible achievement – over the course of two years, transforming what was essentially jungle into this incredible facility that we all sit within today. It represents a significant investment from the Australian Government. $83 million Australian. More than 1400 contracts were signed with Fiji and partners for the delivery of this facility. 1275 jobs were created in the building of this facility. It was, over the last two years, a massive endeavour to bring us to this day. But as significant as these facts and figures are, what is much more profound is the capability that this now represents for Fiji and indeed for the Pacific region.

One of the real challenges that every nation faces is coordination, how we break down stovepipes and have various agencies within our governments working together so that they end up being more than the sum of their parts. Well, the Vuvale Maritime Essential Services Centre is the living and breathing expression of this. Under one roof, we have the Fiji Navy, the Fiji Police, Fiji Customs, Fiji Fisheries, the Search and Rescue Coordination Centre, the Hydrographic Office and more. Bringing those agencies together into one place represents power. It represents the ability to make change. It represents the ability to give effect to practical outcomes. For the first time, intelligence which might be received by the Fisheries Agency about an illegal vessel will result in real-time tasking of the Fiji Navy – a distress call that is received by the Search and Rescue Coordination Centre in a matter of minutes can see actions from the Fiji Police. And a tip-off from Fiji Customs about a transnational shipment of illegal drugs will have the Navy standing right there beside them. The ability to coordinate in that way is profound, and it represents an ability to have much greater agency and control over Fiji’s maritime domain. That is significant, because, as the Prime Minister has just said, Fiji is a maritime nation. The maritime domain for Fiji is utterly central to Fiji’s economic prosperity and Fiji’s national security. And so the contribution that this centre represents to all of that is hugely significant. Vuvale, family, is exactly the word which captures what this centre is about, because the agencies at work here are indeed a family, and this is the opportunity for all of those agencies to now operate as one. But Vuvale is also a word which is used to refer to another family, a family which encompasses both Fiji and Australia and indeed the Pacific. And this facility is a tangible, physical expression of the significance of the bilateral relationship between Australia and Fiji. Our investment in this facility is one of the largest infrastructure investments that Australia has made anywhere in the world. Along with our investment in Black Rock, these are the two most significant investments that Australia has made in respect of Fiji. It is the bricks and mortar that we see behind us, these physical buildings. But it’s more than that, because part of this represents a 20-year sustainment package for both Black Rock and here, which will ensure that both of these facilities are at the cutting edge of their capability for decades to come.

Now, this is a contribution on the part of Australia to building the capability, providing for the national security of Fiji. But it is more than that, because we understand that the security of Fiji is very central to the security of Australia. We sit here this morning at the heart of the Pacific, here in Suva, here in Fiji. And in saying that, I want to acknowledge the leadership of Fiji within the Pacific. And to you, Prime Minister, I want to acknowledge your personal leadership within the Pacific in seeking and aspiring to have the Pacific as an ocean of peace. But the Pacific is also the neighbourhood in which Australia lives. It is impossible to conceive of Australia’s security without, in the same breath, acknowledging the need for the security of the Pacific region. And so in saying that, what is manifestly clear is that there is an intimate relationship between the security of Fiji and the security of Australia, and this facility goes to both. And so today, I really want to thank all of those who have been involved in the realisation of this dream, in bringing about this project today. I want to thank all the contractors who have been involved in the construction of this incredible facility, all the workers who have laboured to bring this about, all the agencies who now reside in this facility. Yours is an amazing achievement to bring us to this day. But most of all, on behalf of the Australian Government, I want to thank all of you. Your service, your contribution is to Fiji, but it is very much to the security of both of our countries and to our region. And for that, Australia stands deeply grateful. Thank you and Vinaka.