By Jenny Hayward-Jones*
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited Vanuatu and Fiji last week (Jan 2019) – the first Australian prime minister to visit Vanuatu since Bob Hawke in 1990 and the first to visit Fiji since John Howard in 2006 (both were for Pacific Islands Forum leaders meetings). Long overdue, the visits are an important next step in Australian government’s increased engagement in the Pacific Islands region, following a flurry of significant announcements in the latter part of 2018.
