The head of Australia's military insists wrapping up the marathon RAMSI mission does not spell the end of Australia's defence ties to the Solomon Islands.
The 15-country Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands moved to restore law and order in 2003, when the country was at the mercy of warlords and the government had no control outside the Honiara capital.
The situation stabilised and RAMSI's military operation wound down in 2013 moving to a policing focus.
Defence Force Chief Mark Binskin says 7200 military personnel had been deployed under the mission in almost 14 years, alongside troops from New Zealand, Tonga and Papua New Guinea.
"The end of mission does not signal the end of our engagement with the Solomon Islands," he told a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Monday, adding that Australia maintains an enduring defence relationship through a cooperation program, training and exercises.
This year's federal budget allocated $79 million over four years to a police development program for the Pacific island nation.
A Lowy Institute report from 2014 estimated Australia had spent $2.6 billion on RAMSI in a decade.
