Brisbane will host a new rapid response team to be deployed through the Pacific in the event of natural disasters.
A clutch of Pacific defence leaders have agreed to immediately establish the Pacific Response Group in the Queensland capital ahead of the cyclone season.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles made the announcement with counterparts from across the region in Auckland this week at the South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting.
It is wonderful to be back in New Zealand for the 2024 South Pacific Defence Ministers' Meeting.— Richard Marles (@RichardMarlesMP) I look forward to discussions with my counterparts about how we can deepen our cooperation across the Pacific. pic.twitter.com/M1Oaos5i8MOctober 1, 2024
The response group will consist of up to 15 personnel - from Australia, Fiji, France, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga - that would only deploy on the request of a Pacific nation.
They would assist local civilian authorities to plan a disaster response and identify potential assistance from other nations.
Mr Marles said in the aftermath of disasters, small island nations can find themselves "overwhelmed with the love and it does require coordination from the get-go".
"That's really what the Pacific Response Group is going to do," he said.
Australia and New Zealand defence teams are often deployed in disasters to ferry people or supplies to impacted areas.
New Zealand Defence Minister Judith Collins said those scenarios required teamwork.
"When we have disasters that we need to help each other with, we do need to have better coordination," she said.
"They'll set it up in Brisbane, they'll do it quickly, because we're coming into the next cyclone season, and they'll have a couple of our senior people (and) we'll be prepared."
The response group is in addition to the Pacific Policing Initiative championed by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese which won support at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting in Tonga last month.
The policing initiative will also have a Brisbane-based hub, in addition to four regional police training centres of excellence across the Pacific, and a multi-country police group which can deploy across the region.
Australia is funding the initiative with $400 million over the next five years, and is seeking further contributions from other developed nations.
Mr Marles said the meeting was crucial to have united defence forces across the region.
"We have a relatively small population (in the Pacific) responsible for a very significant piece of global real estate.
"In order to provide security over that kind of area, we really do need to have the most efficient military community we can possibly provide, and this is really a very significant step down that path."