Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has criticized Australia and New Zealand for failing to back the pacific islands in it’s struggle against clime change.

Bainimarama hit out at particularly Australia – which he says – seems intent on putting its own immediate economic interests first.

He says the ‘Lucky Country’ is determined to stay lucky – as least for the short term – at the expense of it’s unlucky island neighbors.

Bainimarama has pleaded with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to impose a moratorium on the development of further coal reserves – which he says are the dirtiest of energy sources.

He urged Turnbull to side with the Pacific against the proponents of coal and the climate change deniers in his own government.

Bainimarama says he will not go to Paris without putting up the strongest of fights and neither will fellow pacific island leaders.

He says we must build resilience, and by all means, prepare for a worst case scenario in which our island nations have no choice but to come to terms with radical changes to our way of life and even the prospect of some of us having to find new homes.

But, he says right now we must show no sign of accepting our fate or appeasing the forces ranged against us because that will merely encourage the industrialized nations to maintain the status quo.

Bainimarama was speaking at the closing of a Pacific Ministerial meeting on health and climate change in Nadi last night.