At the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting in Palau, Anthony Albanese announced the new "Waqa Moana" pact and investment to target trans-national crime.
At the centrepiece is better surveillance of the vast blue continent which covers 31 per cent of the world's surface.
And the beneficiaries will be both law enforcement in Australia, given contraband will be stopped from reaching its final destination, and Pacific communities.
The increase in drug flow is a huge problem in several countries: linked to increased gang activity in Samoa and Tonga, and a sharp rise in the HIV rate in Fiji.
"Drug trafficking is having a devastating impact on Pacific communities," Pacific Minister Pat Conroy said.
"This initiative responds to the calls of regional leaders to do more, and to step up regional co-ordination to address this scourge."
Heightened trafficking is showing up in Australian Federal Police interventions in the region.
In 2025, about 4.6 tonnes of illicit drugs were seized by local and international law enforcement, the Australian Federal Police reported.
In the first five months of this year, 17 tonnes have been picked up - mostly cocaine.
The scheme has been endorsed by the Pacific Islands Forum but will be "opt-in" for Pacific nations.
Those that do - including Fiji - will be allowing the Australian military to use their airspace and seas to hunt and intercept drugs.
Aerial surveillance is already being used in the region to detect illegal fishing, which is critical to protecting stocks and their vital revenue flow for Pacific nations.
The $600 million - roughly half of which is new money, the rest already budgeted for - will be spent over the next 10 years.
The initiative builds on the growing Australia-led security infrastructure in the region.
Waqa Moana comes two years after Australia announced a similar investment towards a Pacific Policing Initiative, which created training hubs for regional police and a multi-country force which can deploy on request.
This proposal would result in better information-sharing across the region, Australia believes, using its defence and military assets, as well as existing Pacific patrol boats.
A co-ordination centre in Samoa would receive and analyse intelligence and surveillance, while a Fiji-based maritime body would put out interdiction requests through the region for individual countries to act on.
Australian deportations of criminals into the Pacific has also been raised as an issue at the summit this week in Palau.
The practice, also undertaken by New Zealand, has been linked to growing gang numbers in the Pacific.
When asked about the role of deportations in rising crime levels, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was unapologetic.
"If people who aren't Australian citizens commit crimes in Australia, we're entitled to implement Australian law," he said.
"We will work with our neighbours but we will always stand up for Australia's national interest as well."
12°C