Published: 10:09 AM, 09 May 2026
Fiji says approves economic, security treaty with Australia
Fiji said on Friday its cabinet had agreed to a security and economic treaty with Australia, which is seeking closer ties with Pacific neighbours to counter China's growing security ambitions in the region. The announcement comes days after Canberra's top diplomat held talks in the Pacific hub.
Canberra struck a defence treaty with Papua New Guinea last year, following a landmark climate migration and security treaty with Tuvalu in 2023, AFP reports.
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong had said on Wednesday in Fiji's capital Suva that a treaty under negotiation with the South Pacific island nation was focused on security, development and people.
Fiji's government said in a statement on Facebook on Friday that its cabinet "has approved the Fiji-Australia Vuvale Union, a treaty-level framework that will strengthen and formalise the longstanding partnership between Fiji and Australia."
The treaty will deepen economic integration between the two countries, and would cover climate security, health and infrastructure, it added. An Australian official said there was a further process for the treaty to be approved on the Australian side.
bp Details of the treaty are not expected to be published until it is signed by the two countries' leaders.
