Pacific Beat

The former Australian minister for the Pacific has broken ranks and again publicly criticise her own government for "saddling" Pacific nations with more debt, with the recently announced $2 billion infrastructure fund.

On the program: Scott Morrison today becomes the first Australian Prime Minister to visit Vanuatu in nearly 30 years, and he's expected to make announcements on security and infrastructure and as Japan gears up to host the Rugby World Cup later this year, one region is looking to make its traditional hot spas, called onsens, "tattoo-friendly".

The Vanuatu government will today host the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, with discussions and announcements expected to focus on infrastructure and security; but what about climate change, which Pacific countries recognise as a security threat?

The fledgling tourism industry in Solomon Islands continues to make good progress, but they still have plenty of ground to make up on countries like Tonga, Vanuatu and Fiji.

Tourism is the backbone of Fiji's economy but it's under threat; the Pacific island paradise and many of the vibrant coral reefs that hundreds of tourists, particularly Australians, come to see have been killed off in mass coral bleaching events. But could "coral gardening" restore these reefs, and in doing so, save the Fijian tourism industry?

On the program: Why a political standoff in the United States over the federal budget is now being felt more than 12,000 kilometres away, in parts of the Pacific, and a protest by landowners that disrupted a new key mining project in PNG is described as illegal.

The owners of the Wafi-Golpu mining exploration site in Papua New Guinea's Morobe Province say a protest that shut down the site was "illegal" and claim they're confused about the reasons for the protest.

As Australia's Prime Minister prepares to head to Vanuatu and Fiji this week, there's some criticism of the timing of the historic visit.

US territories like Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands still receive millions of dollars in federal funding, and while most programs will be paid through to February it's not clear what might happen if the shutdown continues for longer.

On the program: Vanuatu politicians are hoping to put a stop to a long history of political instability, which hasn't had a full term government since 1995, and Australia's Prime Minister to make history when he kicks off 2019 with visits this week to Vanuatu and Fiji.