Australian and NZ Pacific Policies: Similarities and Differences

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Increased concerns about the growing influence of China in the Pacific seem to be the main reason why Australia, and to a lesser extent NZ, have "reset" their Pacific aid programmes. Their combined yearly aid now totals A$1B and both have increased their diplomatic presence. 
The "reset" highlights recognition of the growing importance of the the region to both countries. There are, however, major differences in the philosophy behind their policies. Australia's main concern is security, highlighted by their intention to build a naval base of Manus Island in PNG, and a concern, denied by Vanuatu,  about a possible Chinese base at Pt Vila. NZ's approach is more pragmatic and more a response to issues raised by Pacific Islands governments, most especially on climate change, about which Australia has been non-committal. This Foreign Brief article  spells it out in in more detail.

Also in the news is that the PacificIslands Forum is about to commence a three month consultation with member governments, Security and the illegal drug trade are high on the agenda. Fiji has not attended Forum summits since it was suspended between 2009 and 201. It complains that Australia and NZ are too dominant, but  it will probably attend the summit in Tuvalu later in the year, and is thought to have offered to host the meeting in 2021.

See also

More NZ support for Nauru.

Solomon Island dismisses regional trade agreement concerns

--ACW

P.S. In searching for an illustration for this article I came across this interesting article on Pacific flags. Fascinating. Enjoy!