Dateline Pacific evening edition for 20 December 2017

Vanuatu's new Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu says a more fair distribution of cabinet portfolios has strengthened the Charlot Salwai-led government; the Catholic diocese of Rabaul is hoping the courts will issue a restraining order after a Malaysian logger illegally moves onto its land; charismatic resistance leaders retain grip on Timor politics as an impasse in parliament continues; Solomons landowners raising funds to challenge miner in court; award winning cartoonist detained on Manus escapes PNG; and Historical Pacific films part of Smithsonian Institution project.