Closing address, 2025 Pacific Regional and National Security Conference, Prime Minister of Niue, the Honourable Dalton Tagelagi

My friends, my Blue Pacific family, I thank you.

I thank you for the opportunity to join you here this afternoon and have the honour of closing this conference. I think it’s the Shangri-La Dialogue of the Pacific and in the Pacific Way.

I hope you all had a wonderful three days. This is probably one of the conferences that I pay more attention to, from the opening to yesterday, and I congratulate you all. Just listening to the reflections, wow. You have all done well at this second conference.

May I quickly acknowledge those that work tirelessly and I give my vote of thanks, vote of confidence, in acknowledgment of all those – from the moderators, the facilitators, the partners and everyone – for their work to make this conference what it is, which I think is a success.

I hope that your minds have been nourished by big discussions and big issues, big ideas for the future. That your spirit has been nourished by fellowship with your brothers and sisters from the Pacific security community. There is nothing like knowledge to empower us and there is
nothing like family gathering to lift us up.

I started the conference by posing the question, ‘what does security mean to you?’ The answer has come back. Security is holistic. It is the whole person. It is a whole community. It is a whole country, and it is the whole region. Security is leaving no one behind. Security is about protecting our values. Security is applying our traditional knowledge and customs and faith in
God to the challenges before us.

I started the conference by saying: security is one of the hardest areas in government policy. It is challenging. But the clear message from this conference is we will hold each other up and we will do it together.

And another clear message is, we will succeed by drawing in the whole community and our traditional leaders. None of us are on this journey on our own.

Let me finish the conference with a new question: what makes us strong?

It is the things that have always made us strong, all the precious treasures which we have been born into as citizens of the Blue Pacific Continent. Our traditions, our cultures, our values, our faith, our connection to land and ocean, our love and concern for the next generation, our Pacific unity.

The polycrisis before the Blue Pacific is big and difficult. Some may wonder, “will the Pacific fall or rise before this crisis?”

My friends, the clear answer from this conference is the Pacific will rise and beat these challenges. I finish our talanoa with hope and optimism for the future.

Let me share some of the wisdom we have heard during our discussions.

From the Solomon Islands National University Vice-Chancellor Professor Transform:

“The Pacific is the most successful region for oceans management in the world, and the Pacific Island countries continue to collaborate very strongly.

“Let us celebrate the success of the region.”

That’s where we are today. In terms of where we are going tomorrow, the Ocean of Peace is the clear destination for our voyage.

Minister Peter Shanel from Solomon Islands said:

“The Ocean of Peace is like a beacon of light. A beacon that helps you to know where there is a good place to travel, and where there is the reef that will cause us to crash.

“It is a beacon that will allow us to navigate the challenging times ahead – together.”

My friends, we are on a great voyage together, and the next step is our Leaders’ Meeting in Honiara, Solomons in September.

But all of you have sent out a great beacon of light to guide us onto the Leaders’ Meeting and I thank you.

God bless you all. God bless your important work. God bless our families who support you, and God bless our great Blue Pacific Continent, which we all serve. I thank you very much.

And I have the honour of saying that is the end of this conference.

The conference is now officially closed.

Thank you.