CANBERRA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has committed 79 million Australian dollars (60.5 million U.S. dollars) to the "next phase of policing support" for the Solomon Islands, Justice Minister Michael Keenan announced on Thursday.
Australia has been playing a vital role in the Solomon Islands for the past 14 years, in what the government described as the nation's "largest ever" overseas police mission, called the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI).
The Australian government was asked to intervene in the tiny pacific nation after disorder threatened peace and stability in 2003.
On Thursday, Keenan said the government had set aside 79 million Australian dollars (60.5 million dollars) for the next stage of the mission now that RAMSI was concluding.
Keenan said while Australia would contribute an overall 141 million Australian dollars (108 million dollars) to the Solomon Islands "over the next four years," the one-off, 79 million Australian dollars (60.5 million dollar) figure would go towards training and advising local police officers, with a team of more than three dozen Australian Federal Police advisers to be based in the nation's capital, Honiara.
