Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Krissy Barrett has reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to working alongside Fiji to combat organised crime, announcing that the AFP and the Fiji Police Force will co-host a major Organised Crime Summit in May next year.
Speaking in Suva, Commissioner Barrett said she could not imagine being anywhere else but in Fiji to make the announcement.
“There is no other place that I would rather be today than to stand side by side with you to announce the AFP and Fiji Police Force will co-host an organised crime summit in May next year,” she said at a press conference.
“This historic summit in Fiji will be a crucial turning point in how we target highly organised criminals who are eroding our way of life and undermining our sovereignty because of their greed and their indifference to the misery.”
She said the scale and sophistication of criminal networks operating in the region demanded a united response.
“These well-funded and entrenched criminal cartels and gangs require a strong, united Pacific bloc to identify, target and disrupt their illicit operating model.”
“When it comes to keeping communities safe, actions mean more than words. Showing up when needed — that is what family does, and that is what our two police forces do for each other every day.”
Commissioner Barrett said Fiji, Australia and their Pacific partners were already working together effectively, and the summit would reinforce that collaboration.
“Fiji and Australia, with our Pacific partners, will fight to keep our region safe, and we are already doing this together and with great success. The summit is another example of how we are taking action together.”
The May 2026 summit will focus on Pacific-specific organised crime, including illicit commodities, money laundering, cybercrime, foreign interference, environmental crime, and illegal fishing and logging. It will bring together senior and operational law enforcement leaders from across the region, representatives from the Five Eyes law-enforcement group, and international bodies including INTERPOL and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
“We will use this summit to make our communities in Fiji, Australia and the Pacific region safer by leveraging the latest intelligence, world-leading capability and technology.
”The fight against organised crime takes vision and it takes fortitude, and I’m proud to be standing next to a partner who has the courage and determination to meet the challenges that are before us,” she said.
