Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt, together with
Samoan Cabinet Ministers, hosted a formal dinner at Taumeasina to welcome Australia’s
Foreign Minister, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, and her delegation to beautiful Samoa.
Both leaders acknowledged the two nations’ longstanding friendship and reaffirmed their
commitment to working together on shared priorities. In that spirit, three Memorandums of
Understanding (MOUs) were signed to strengthen the partnership and to bolster shared work
towards a safe and thriving Blue Pacific.
Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa signed the Memorandum of Understanding for the Pacific
Policing Initiative and a related MOU on Pacific policing deployments. These give effect to
decisions of Pacific Islands Forum Leaders to advance regional policing cooperation and enable
practical support between Pacific countries when assistance is requested.
Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa also signed a Cyber MOU with Foreign Minister Wong, which
reinforces bilateral collaboration and shared work to strengthen digital resilience and
cybersecurity.
Tomorrow, Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa and Foreign Minister Wong will attend a topping
out ceremony for the Australian-funded Legislative Assembly Office. This is an opportunity to
mark a key milestone in the construction of the building, which is the placement of the roof
structure.
Following the conclusion of the topping out ceremony, the delegation will head to Savaii aboard
the Nafanua III to open the Samoa Police Tuasivi Maritime Office.