Stephen Dziedzic

Program: The World Today Presented by A new deal designed to strengthen Australia's strategic position in the Pacific is being ushered in.

Program: The World Today Presented by A new deal designed to strengthen Australia's strategic position in the Pacific is being ushered in.

Program: PM Presented by As China tries to expand its influence in the Pacific region, Australia and Nauru have signed a major deal.

Pacific police chiefs say they are poised to send more deployments of multi-national police forces to hotspots around the region after state-of-the-art training facilities were opened in Queensland.

Australia and Papua New Guinea unveil a long-awaited deal handing PNG its own NRL team, confirming the league's most ambitious expansion since formation, and notching what the federal government is hailing as a major strategic victory.

Program: The World Today Presented by After years of hoping and waiting, Papua New Guinea finally has its own NRL team.

It has been a frenetic week in what Foreign Minister Penny Wong has called the "permanent contest" between Australia and China across the blue Pacific.

There are grave fears the number of people killed and injured by a magnitude-7.3 earthquake that struck near Vanuatu's capital city of Port Vila could rise significantly.

The ABC has been told that Australia has committed $190 million to grow the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force and establish a new police training centre in Honiara.

Program: Presented by Australia has struck a new security agreement with Solomon Island to boost the Pacific nation's police force.