16 Jan 2019

Australia PM's visit to Vanuatu and Fiji is first in decades

From Summer Report, 8:40 am on 16 January 2019

A visit by Australia's prime minister to Vanuatu and Fiji this week is the first by an Australian prime minister in decades. The trip follows the Australian government's Pacific "Step Up" announced just over a year ago and observers say it's an effort to show Australia is taking the Pacific seriously. Mr Morrison is scheduled to arrive in the Vanuatu capital Port Vila today - in what's also being seen as a push to stem China's growing influence in the region. RNZ Pacific's Sally Round filed this report.