[Australia]: Message to South Pacific Forum Members [SEC=PROTECTED]

[Owen]

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MINISTER FOR DEFENCE​

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: PROTECTED (Encrypted)​

10 January 2000​

Dear the Defence Representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom and France, The Royal Australian Navy has just commissioned 16 new Armidale-class patrol boats. As a result we now have 15 decommissioned Fremantle-class patrol boats to dispose of. The Government has decided to gift these vessels to South Pacific Forum members for the exclusive use of patrolling the South Pacific Forum area. They will be distributed on the basis of population of your South Pacific Forum territories. We are gifting these on a basis of trust that they will be used and based exclusively within your South Pacific Forum territories. As a result we have distributed the following vessels to your territories: French Polynesia (France) - 3 (former HMAS Fremantle, HMAS Warrnambool and HMAS Townsville) New Caledonia (France) - 3 (former HMAS Wollongong, HMAS Launceston and HMAS Whyalla) Guam (United States) - 3 (former HMAS Ipswich, HMAS Cessnock and HMAS Bendigo) Northern Mariana Islands (United States) - 2 (former HMAS Gawler and HMAS Geraldton) American Samoa (United States) - 2 (former HMAS Dubbo and HMAS Geelong) Wallis and Futuna Islands (France) - 1 (former HMAS Gladstone) Pitcairn Islands (United Kingdom) - 1 (former HMAS Bunbury) We appreciate your cooperation in the South Pacific Forum and hopefully we can ensure ever lasting peace and stability in this region. Yours sincerely, John Faulkner.

Parliament House, CANBERRA, ACT 2600 Telephone: (02) 6277 7700​

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With that, the boats would be sent off their respective territories.

Jamie Odinson Vaka

 

[Vaka]

Classified and Encrypted
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To: Mr. John Faulkner, Minister for Defence, Commonwealth of Australia Owen

I would like to thank the Australian Government for the generous gift of the Fremantle-class patrol boats to our overseas territories. This will go a long way to ensuring safety throughout the regional areas of the south Pacific. They will be assigned to each of the respective French Overseas Territories home ports and begin patrol missions forthwith. We will be dispatching crews to man them without delay. We have also elected to retain the names of each vessel in a sign of respect to each vessel's individual history and service to the protection of the peoples of the South Pacific. We are going to have them based in the following ports.



Port of Papeete, French Polynesia
Fremantle
Warrnambool
Townsville

Port of Noumea, New Caledonia
Wollongong
Launceston
Whyalla

Port of Mata-Utu, Wallis and Futuna Islands
Gladstone

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We look forward to future cooperation between the nations of the South Pacific Forum.

Brigitte Girardin
Minister of the Overseas
The French Republic

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