What is SPDMM?
Established in 2013, the South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM) is the premier defence ministerial dialogue in the South Pacific. It brings together Defence Ministers from Australia, Chile, Fiji, France, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga to enhance defence and security cooperation and drive Pacific-led responses to regional security challenges.
Members work collectively to foster their prosperity, sovereignty and regional solidarity, by taking stock of regional security challenges and identifying ways to jointly improve cooperation and coordination on regional defence issues.
Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America are observers.
New Zealand hosted the ninth SPDMM meeting from 1 - 3 October 2024. Previous meetings were held in New Caledonia (France) in 2023, Tonga in 2022, Australia (virtually in 2021 and 2020), Fiji in 2019, New Zealand in 2017, Papua New Guinea in 2015 and Tonga in 2013.
Secretariat
The Australian Department of Defence serves as the SPDMM Secretariat. The Secretariat organises regular virtual Intersessional Working Group (IWG) meetings with officials from each SPDMM member and works with Members to implement decisions and drive SPDMM initiatives. If you would like to get in touch, please email us at: spdmm.secretariat@defence.gov.au.
