From the High Commissioner’s Desk – Rod Hilton

Built for Solomon Islands, by Solomon Islanders

The reopening of Malaita South Road in late 2024 has revitalised farming along the major transport link

Australian projects are increasingly being delivered by local companies, providing more skilled jobs for Solomon Islanders

Together, Australia and Solomon Islands are delivering infrastructure that supports Solomon Islanders to live happy, healthy lives.

From road maintenance, market houses, community halls, bus shelters, WASH facilities and school and clinic refurbishments, through to nation-building projects such as the Tina River Hydropower Project, Coral Sea Cable, mobile telecommunication towers, major airfield upgrades and health centres.

While infrastructure supports so many aspects of human development, it is also a key enabler of economic growth.

Since 2019, Australia has committed over $5 billion to an incredible 520+ infrastruc ture projects across every province directly supporting jobs, businesses and communities.

The number one lesson we’ve learnt along the way is the value of local content.

*School students visit the Tina River Hydro project*

By local content, we mean employing local contractors, local suppliers and local workers wherever possible. In fact, Australia mandates high local content requirements in its infrastructure contracts.

Australia has created over 27,300 jobs in Solomon Islands since 2021, and over 10,500 of these have been in the infrastructure sector.

Prioritising local content not only creates jobs as infrastructure is built, but it also upskills workers along the way.

Right now, on markets, health centres and school infrastructure worksites around the country, local workers, site supervisors and engineers are receiving mentoring to safely build to a higher quality.

In addition to on-the-job training, we continue to deliver targeted training to uplift the capacity of local industry, with 1,047 people trained since 2022.

Using a locally led approach to infrastructure design and delivery helps to ensure projects meet the needs of the communities and can be maintained after handover.

Quality materials, quality, locally led construction and hearing from the people who will ultimately use and maintain infrastructure are the foundations of a good project.

Quality infrastructure, with climate smart design and materials, extends the
life of infrastructure and makes it cheaper and easier to maintain.

The Solomon Islands – Australia Partnership has an exciting pipeline of infrastructure underway across key economic and social sectors, all delivered by local companies or with majority local workforces. Projects include:

Western and Eastern border outposts
Tina River Hydropower Development Project
Naha Birthing and Urban Health Centre
Buala, Seghe and Malu’u Markets
Terminals at Seghe and Choiseul Bay airports, in collaboration with New Zealand
Six solar-battery hybrid and micro hydro off-grid renewable energy solutions in Central, Isabel, Malaita and Western provinces
Choiseul Provincial Emergency Operations Centre, and school refurbishments.

In addition to all this great work, the second phase of the Community Access and Urban Services Enhancement project (CAUSE II) is on track to create hundreds of local jobs and support the development of urban communities across Honiara, Auki, Gizo, Noro, and Munda.

Australia is very excited to be a CAUSE partner once again, committing over $160 million to CAUSE II’s success.

CAUSE II will invest in climate resilient roads, drainage systems and waste management services, deliver critical skills training, and provide much needed employment opportunities.