10/06/2026
Australia’s relationship with its Pacific neighbours has never been more consequential. As the region navigates rising strategic competition, climate pressures, and evolving security threats, the question is no longer whether Australia should deepen its engagement — it is how.
In this podcast, Omni CEO Steven Thorpe and Nick Stoker sat down with Australian Naval Institute’s (ANI) Duncan MacRae to work through that question. What emerges is a candid, operationally grounded conversation that goes well beyond the headlines.
More Than Geography
Australia occupies an unusual position in the Pacific. Not quite an island nation, not quite a distant partner, we balance bilateral relationships within a multilateral environment, strategic alliances outside the region, and the ongoing challenge of being perceived as a regional power rather than an equal. The conversation explores what genuine partnership looks like when you manage that tension, and why ‘respect’, not transactions, is the foundation that endures.
Where Capability Meets Diplomacy
Maritime domain awareness, aerial surveillance, port infrastructure, and fuel availability are not abstract policy considerations. They are the practical building blocks of a secure maritime region. The podcast examines where investment will have the most durable impact, including the case for balanced resourcing across the surface and aerial pillars of the Pacific Maritime Security Program (PMSP), and why airhead access matters as much as wharf upgrades.
Omni has been active in the Pacific for a number of years. From maintenance, repair and overhaul of rotary and fixed wing aircraft (including a Bell 412 for the Papua New Guinea Defence Force), aerial surveillance, and infrastructure support, our work in the region is grounded in operational reality. Delivering capability in the Pacific is considerably more than completing a task. It is about building local capacity and resilience, respecting sovereign priorities and culture, and creating Pacific-led solutions that endure after the contract ends.
People, Not Just Programs
The podcast makes a compelling case for diplomacy – including the power of sports diplomacy, education, and local workforce development as strategic tools, not soft add-ons. Australia has natural advantages here that no cheque book can replicate. Programs like Pacific Australia Skills and the Defence Cooperation Program are not peripheral to our security objectives. They are central to them.
The Work Ahead
Regulation for autonomous systems, AUKUS budget balance in expenditure, local governance of infrastructure projects, and meaningful measurement of partnership progress, the conversation covers it all with the kind of specificity that policy debate often lacks.
If Australia’s Pacific engagement is going to move from aspiration to enduring partnership, Australian industry has a key role to play.
Listen to the full episode here Stream 4.8 ‘Australian Partnership in the Pacific’ – with Steven Thorpe and Nick Stoker from Omni Executive by Saltwater Strategists | Listen online for free on SoundCloud